LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

GIFT    OF 

THE  BANCROFT 

Class 


LIGHT. 

A  period  of  universal  light  resulted  from  the  condensation  of 
matter.  Every  sun  and  nebula  was  luminous.  No  night;  no  dark- 
ness ;  no  opaque  bodies  ;  no  shadows. 

"  And  God  willed  that  light  exist :  and  light  existed." 
PLATE  i.     ( See  page  235.) 


LIGHT   SEPARATED    FROM    DARKNESS. 

Light  and  darkness  were  separated  by  the  smaller  bodies  becom- 
ing opaque,  and  casting  shadows.  The  shadows  being  darkness 
and  night.  The  light  being  day.  The  axial  revolutions  produc- 
ing evening  and  morning. 

"  And  God  separated  the  light  from  the  darkness  :  and  God  called  the  light 
day;  and  the  darkness  he  called  night  :  and  there  was  evening  and  there  was 
morning." 

PLATE  2.    (  See  page  236.) 


"And  divided  the  waters  which  are  under  the  expanse  from  the 
waters  which  are  above  the  expanse." 

PLATE  3.     (  See  page  238.) 


THE 


LAN  OF  CREATION, 


BY 


K.    M.    WIDNEY. 

1! 


Los  ANGELES,  CAL..: 
1881. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1878, 

BY  R.  M.  WIDNEY, 
in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


John  H.  Carmany  &  Co.,  Printer*, 

M.  Weiss,  Hebrew  Compositor, 

fiaa  Francisco,  Cal. 


PREFACE. 


The  tendency  of  recent  thought  has  been  toward  a 
belief  in  the  existence  of  one  general,  uniform  plan  of 
creation,  of  which  every  existing  thing  and  law  is  a  con- 
sistent part.  So  far  as  tested  by  the  discoveries  of 
science,  it  is  found  that  law  and  order  reign  supreme. 
There  is  no  chance  within  the  exterior  boundaries  of 
matter  in  space.  If  this  be  true,  then  all  things,  single 
or  aggregated,  must  be  under  a  general  law.  If  such 
law  exists,  then  there  is  a  general  plan  co-extensive  and 
co -existent  with  that  law. 

The  following  pages  are  designed  to  present,  in  gen- 
eral outline,  what  appears  to  the  writer,  to  be  that  plan. 
Only  the  most  general  sketch  is  intended  or  attempted. 
The  thoughts  set  forth  are  submitted  to  the  reader,  and 
it  is  for  him  to  accept,  reject,  or  modify  them  to  what- 
ever extent  his  own  knowledge,  reason,  and  judgment 
may  dictate. 

Los  ANGELES,  CAL  ,  April,  1881. 


235145 


ERRATA. 

Page  31,  line  8  from  bottom,  word  7,  read  "leave" 
instead  of  "have." 

Page  104,  line  2  from  bottom,  wore7  >,  read  "  the"  in- 
stead of  "its." 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

INTRODUCTION 13 

CHAPTER  I. 
THAT  THERE  is  SOME  GENERAL  PLAN  OF  CREATION         18 

CHAPTER  II. 
THAT  MATTER  WAS  CREATED  FROM  NOTHING     .        .      23 

CHAPTER  III. 

THAT  THERE  is  A  GOD,  OMNIPOTENT,  ETERNAL,  UN- 
CHANGING, INFINITE,  AND  OF  FREE  WILL      .        .      43 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  PLAN  OF  CREATION  AND  ITS  GENERAL  CHARAC- 
TERISTICS     49 

CHAPTER  V. 

WHAT   KIND  OF   BEINGS   WOULD   BE   CREATED,   AND 

THEIR  NUMBER 54 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  LAWS  ACCORDING  TO  WHICH   ENJOYMENT  is  AT- 
TAINED         59 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  CREATION  OF   MATTER,  AND  THE   PURPOSE  FOR 

WHICH  IT  WAS  CREATED 65 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  CREATION  OF  BEINGS  WHEREIN  LIFE  AND  MAT- 
TER ARE  UNITED.  THE.  EXTREMES  OF  THE  CRE- 
ATION OF  BEINGS  CAPABLE  OF  ENJOYMENT  .  .  69 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  LOWER  ORDER  OF  ANIMALS  ARE  MORTAL.  WHY 
THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM  WOULD  BE  CREATED,  AND 
THE  ORDER  IN  WHICH  THE  ANIMALS  WOULD  BE 
CREATED 73 

CHAPTER  X. 
THE  CHRONOLOGICAL  ORDER  OF  CREATION          .        .      80 

CHAPTER  XL 

THE  ORDER  OF  MAN,  AND  ITS  SOURCES  OF  ENJOY- 
MENT  88 

CHAPTER  XII. 
THE  FIRST  MAN 97 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
THE  LAW  OF  ENJOYMENT  AS  APPLIED  TO  MAN  .        .     105 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

WHAT  WOULD  BE  REVEALED  TO  THE  RACE  OF  MAN, 

AND  HOW  IT  WOUL»  «E  AUTHENTICATED      .         .     109 


CONTENTS.  VI 1 

CHAPTER  XV. 
SUMMARY  OF  GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  AND  LAWS    .        .118 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

EVIDENCE  TO  SHOW  THE  CREATION  OF  SPIRITUAL  BE- 
INGS OF  DIFFERENT  ORDERS 124 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
THE  EXTENT  OF  THE  CREATION  OF  MATTER        .        .     130 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

EVIDENCE  TO  SHOW  THAT  MAN  WAS  CREATED  AN  OR- 
DER OF  BEINGS  LOWER  THAN  THE  ANGELS,  WHERE- 
IN MIND  AND  MATTER  ARE  UNITED;  AND  THAT 
HL  HAS  BEEN  SPECIALLY  CARED  FOR  BY  THE  CRE- 
ATOR   136 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

EVIDENCE  OF  A  GENERAL  REVELATION  FOR  THE  BEN- 
EFIT OF  THE  ORDER  OF  MAN  ....  149 

CHAPTER  XX. 
EVIDENCE  THAT  AUTHENTICATES  THIS  REVELATION    .     173 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

ANALYSIS  AND  LITERAL  TRANSLATION  OF  THE  HE- 
BREW TEXT  OF  THE  FIRST  CHAPTER  OF  GENESIS.  186 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE   IDEAS  CONTAINED  IN   THE   FIRST  CHAPTER  OF 

GENESIS 224 


Vlli  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

DO  THE  STATEMENTS  IN  THE  FIRST  CHAPTER  OF  GEN- 
ESIS CORRESPOND  WITH  THE  FACTS  IN  NATURE?  .  23! 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  REVEALED  FACTS  TO  THE 
MORAL  REVELATION.  THE  CONCLUSIVE  CHARAC- 
TER OF  THE  EVIDENCE  WHICH  AUTHENTICATES 
THIS  REVELATION 253 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
C^Q'OT — 'O  OvpavoS,. —  HEAVEN        ....    264 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
CONCLUSION 272 


THE  PLAN  OF  CREATION. 


INTRODUCTION. 

THE  truth  of  a  proposition  frequently  appears 
by  first  assuming  it  as  true,  and  then  showing 
that  it  is  the  simplest  that  will  account  for  all 
the  known  facts  to  which  it  relates.  In  this 
way  it  was  first  demonstrated  that  the  law  of 
gravitation  applied  to  all  bodies  in  the  universe. 
Kepler  made  over  seventy  different  suppositions 
as  to  the  shape  of  the  orbits  of  the  planets. 
Finally,  assuming  that  the  orbits  were  nearly 
elliptical,  with  the  sun  near  one  of  the  foci,  he 
demonstrated  that  it  would  account  for  all  the 
facts  in  the  case.  The  demonstration  rests  upon 
this  principle  —  that  the  hypothesis  is  the  sim- 
plest that  will  account  for  all  the  facts. 

Assumed  propositions  may,  for  the  purpose 


OF  CREATION. 

of  argument,   be  divided  into  four   classes,  as 
follows  : 

First. — Comprehensible. 

Second.. — Incomprehensible. 

Third. — Contradictory. 

Fourth. — Absurd. 

A  proposition  of  the  first  class  is  one  which 
the  mind  comprehends  or  understands  —  e.  g., 
that  the  earth  is  round,  or  that  the  moon  is  in- 
habited. The  proposition  may,  or  may  not,  be 
true;  but  in  either  case  the  mind  comprehends 
or  grasps  it.  It  is  not  contradictory — it  is  com- 
prehensible. 

A  proposition  of  the  second  class  —  the  in- 
comprehensible— is  one  concerning  which  the 
mind  does  not  understand  how  it  can  be  true. 
It  possesses  elements  of  which  the  mind  has  no 
knowledge.  It  is  beyond  the  present  grasp  of 
the  mind.  It  does  not,  however,  contain  with- 
in it  any  contradiction.  To  assume  that  at  a  giv- 
en instant  of  time  a  thing  both  did  and  did  not 
exist,  is  a  contradiction.  To  assume  that  at  one 
instant  it  did  not  exist,  and  at  the  next  instant 
it  did  exist,  is  incomprehensible  ;  but  it  is  not 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  15 

contradictory.  The  soul  of  a  child  at  one  time 
did  not  exist,  at  a  subsequent  time  it  did  exist. 
How  this  occurs  is  incomprehensible,  but  it  is 
not  contradictory.  A  proposition  of  this  sec- 
ond class  may,  or  may  not,  be  true.  Proof  may 
establish  it,  or  may  refute  it,  or  may  leave  it  in 
doubt. 

A  contradictory  proposition  is  one  which 
contains  an  affirmative  and  negative.  The  mind, 
therefore,  clearly  comprehends  or  understands 
how  or  why  the  proposition  is  not  true.  To 
assume  that  a  thing  is  round  and  square  at 
the  same  time,  or  is  entirely  black  and  entirely 
white  at  the  same  time,  embraces  a  contradic- 
tion. Also,  there  is  a  contradiction  in  the  prop- 
osition that  matter,  subject  to  attraction,  re- 
mained diffused  throughout  space,  in  a  state  of 
rest,  for  any  period  of  time,  with  nothing  to 
prevent  the  attractive  force  from  drawing  it  to- 
gether at  certain  points.  It  is  a  contradiction 
to  suppose  that  attraction,  a  power  which  draws 
together,  did  not  draw  together.  All  proposi- 
tions of  this  third  class  are  false — are  self-de- 
structive. 


16  THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

An  absurd  proposition  as  herein  used  is  one 
wherein  there  is  nothing  incomprehensible  or 
contradictory  ;  yet  it  is  so  at  variance  with 
reason  that  the  mind  rejects  it  at  once  as  false. 

It  will  be  observed  that  of  these  propositions 
the  third  and  fourth  classes  are  always  false, 
viz  :  the  contradictory  and  absurd.  If  a  hy- 
pothesis belongs  to  either  the  first  or  second 
class,  we  adopt  as  true  that  which  is  the  simplest 
or  least  complicated,  and  which  will  harmonize 
with  all  the  facts.  Of  the  first  class  this  illus- 
tration may  be  given  :  either  the  earth  revolves 
on  its  axis  every  twenty -four  hours,  or  the 
heavens  revolve  around  the  earth.  The  first  is 
the  simpler  hypothesis  and  is  received  as  true. 

To  illustrate  the  second  class  of  propositions 
—  the  incomprehensible  —  we  offer  this:  that 
some  being  created  matter  from  nothing,  or  that 
it  came  into  existence  without  such  a  being  It 
is  incomprehensible  how  any  being  could  create 
something  from  nothing.  But  it  is  a  less  simple 
proposition  to  suppose  that  nothing  from  nothing 
created  matter,  or  that  matter  created  itself 
from  nothing.  Of  the  above  propositions  it  is 


THE    PLAN    OP    CREATION.  17 

simpler  to  suppose  that  some  being  created 
matter  from  nothing;  and,  in  a  choice  from  those 
propositions  alone,  it  is  to  be  selected. 

If,  therefore,  all  the  propositions  or  hypothe- 
ses on  a  subject  are  reduced  to  the  third  and 
fourth  classes,  i.  <?.,  the  contradictory  or  absurd, 
except  one  which  is  incomprehensible,  all  must 
be  rejected  as  false  except  that  one,  and  it  must 
be  accepted  as  true. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THAT  THERE  IS  SOME  GENERAL  PLAN  OF  CREATION. 

If  there  is  a  God,  who  has  created  all  things, 
then  there  must  be  some  general  plan  in  accord- 
ance with  which  He  created  them.  The  parts 
of  this  general  plan,  considered  as  isolated  facts, 
might,  when  compared  one  with  another,  seem 
to  be  in  conflict,  and  to  be  inconsistent  with 
each  other.  But  if  the  whole  plan  and  the  ob- 
jects to  be  accomplished  are  known,  and  the 
parts  are  considered,  each  in  its  proper  place, 
and  as  a  part  of  the  whole,  harmony  must  result, 
and  no  part  will  be  inconsistent  with  the  entire 
plan. 

A  person  examining  a  train  of  cars  sees  at 
once  that  it  is  intended  to  move  along  with 
rapidity.  On  further  examination  he  discovers 
the  brakes.  Here  he  finds  something  that  to 
him  is  inconsistent  with  the  other  parts.  The 
only  use  to  which  the  brakes  can  be  put  is  to 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  19 

actually  destroy  the  motion  of  the  train.  Let 
him  be  informed  that  the  object  of  the  train  is 
to  move  at  times,  and  at  times  to  stop,  then  he 
at  once  sees  that  the  brakes  act  in  harmony 
with  the  general  object.  His  knowledge  of  the 
plan  is  more  extended.  So  it  must  be  with 
God's  work.  If  there  is  a  God,  who  created  all 
things,  then  when  we  know  enough  of  his 
works,  and  are  able  to  discover  the  general 
plan  and  object  of  his  creation,  and  when  we 
can  consider  the  parts,  each  in  its  proper  place, 
and  with  reference  to  the  whole,  we  shall  see 
the  perfect  harmony  that. must  exist  throughout. 
After  a  sufficient  number  of  facts  in  science 
are  discovered,  we  may  throw  them  all  into  one 
group  and  determine  that  which  is  common  to 
all  of  them.  This  common  principle,  running 
through  the  whole  group  or  class  of  facts,  is 
the  general  plan.  If  we  collect  into  one  group 
all  the  facts  of  science,  of  society,  of  religion, 
of  humanity,  and  of  morals,  and  if  there  be  a 
sufficient  number  of  facts  known,  we  can  de- 
termine the  general  plan  and  object  of  the 
whole,  unless  the  human  mind  is  too  limited  in 
its  capacity  to  comprehend  them. 


20  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

The  object  of  the  present  work  is  to  ascer- 
tain the  general  plan  of  which  each  fact  in 
nature  is  a  part.  That  general  plan  is  THE  PLAN 
OF  CREATION. 

Is  there  a  God?  Was  matter  created  from 
nothing,  or  is  it  eternal?  Is  the  soul  immortal? 
Is  the  existence  of  evil,  of  sin,  of  death,  of  fu- 
ture suffering,  consistent  with  the  justice  and 
benevolence  of  God?  Has  God  made  any  rev- 
elation to  man,  and  if  so,  is  that  revelation  con- 
sistent with  the  facts  of  science?  Who  was 
Christ  ? 

Can  any  or  all  of  these  questions  be  reason- 
ably answered  from  the  facts  that  exist  inde- 
pendent of  revelation  and  faith  ?  We  think 
they  can.  For  if  it  is  a  fact,  that  there  is  a 
God,  who  created  all  things,  and  on  whom  nat- 
ure depends  for  its  existence,  then  it  follows 
that  if  we  can  discover  a  sufficient  number  of 
the  facts  of  nature,  we  shall  finally  reach  a  point 
in  the  investigation  where  nature  depends  .on 
God  for  its  origin,  or  where  the  creative  act 
occurred.  It  is  not  probable  that  God  so  cre- 
ated all  things  as  to  conceal  forever  the  con- 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  21 

necting  link  between  himself  and  the  created. 
It  must  certainly  exist  somewhere.  The  only 
question  is,  where  and  what  is  it.  Have  we 
facts  enough  discovered  by  which  to  prove  the 
existence  of  God?  The  same  remarks  apply  to 
the  other  doubtful  questions  that  have  so  long 
perplexed  the  mind  of  man. 

If  the  existence  of  sin,  evil,  and  death  are 
parts  of  God's  plan,  then  they  are  consistent 
with  it.  When  men  know  enough  of  the  gen- 
eral plan,  and  the  proper  place  and  function  of 
the  parts,  then  they  will  perceive  the  grand 
unity  and  the  beautiful  harmony  pervading  the 
works  of  the  Creator.  These  are  each  parts  of 
the  general  plan,  and  when  a  sufficient  number 
of  the  facts,  arid  the  place  each  occupies,  and 
the  function  of  each  part  is  known,  reason  and 
faith  will  unite,  and  doubt,  skepticism,  and  in- 
fidelity will  give  way  to  the  truth. 

We,  therefore,  conclude  this  chapter  with  the 
proposition  —  that  whatever  has  been  created, 
and  whatever  laws  have  been  established,-  have 
been  in  accordance  with  some  general  plan,  and 
that  all  things,  animate  and  inanimate,  mate- 


22  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

rial  and  immaterial,  are  moving  on  in  pursu- 
ance therewith  to  accomplish  its  great  final  ob- 
ject. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THAT    MATTER   WAS    CREATED    FROM   NOTHING. 

Bearing  in  mind  the  principles  referred  to  in 
the  introduction,  we  will  proceed  to  investigate 
the  following  subjects:  The  existence  of  a  God, 
and  the  origin  of  matter.  The  same  evidence 
which  proves  the  creation  of  matter  also  proves 
the  existence  of  God.  If  matter  was  created 
from  nothing,  then  there  must  have  been  a 
Creative  Power.  That  power  we  call  God.  We, 
therefore,  begin  by  investigating  the  origin  or 
creation  of  matter. 

The  facts  and  laws  of  nature  now  known  dem- 
onstrate that  matter  is  not  eternal,  but  must 
have  been  created  from  nothing.  Incompre- 
hensible as  this  may  be,  it  is  not  contradictory. 
A  general  outline  of  the  argument  is  as  follows: 

According  to  the  facts  and  laws  of  nature  as 
now  known  to  science,  the  earth  has  not  existed 
from  eternity  in  its  present  condition  ;  neither 


24  THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

could  it  be  eternal  in  its  molten  state  ;  neither 
could  the  matter,  out  of  which  the  earth  and 
heavenly  bodies  were  formed,  have  existed  from 
eternity  scattered  or  diffused  throughout  space  ; 
neither  could  matter  have  gone  through  an  in- 
finite series  of  changes.  Therefore,  it  must 
have  been  created  from  nothing.  The  argument 
is  based  on  the  following  law  of  nature  :  That 
all  force  manifested  in  chemical  and  mechanical  ac- 
tion sooner  or  later  results  in  a  state  of  rest,  or  equi- 
librium, which  must  be  eternal,  unless  some 
external  force  disturb  it. 

If  a  vessel  be  filled  with  chemicals,  as  metals 
and  metaloids,  or  acids,  bases  and  salts,  intense 
chemical  action  will  take  place,  and  will  con- 
tinue until  each  atom  of  matter  has  united  it- 
self to  that  other  atom  for  which  it  has  the 
strongest  chemical  affinity.  When  this  has 
taken  place  all  chemical  action  will  cease  —  an 
equilibrium  will  be  reached.  This  equilibrium 
will  be  eternal,  unless  some  external  force  dis- 
turb it. 

If  the  bed  of  the  ocean  were  filled  with 
chemicals  the  same  state  of  activity  would  arise, 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  25 

and  when  each  atom  had  united  itself  to  that 
other  atom  for  which  it  had  the  strongest  chem- 
ical affinity,  the  same  equilibrium  would  result 
in  a  given  or  fixed  time.  Likewise,  if  metals 
and  metaloids  in  quantity  equal  to  the  quantity 
in  the  earth  were  brought  together  there  would 
be  reached,  after  ages  of  activity,  an  equi- 
librium. It  would  only  be  a  question  of  time. 

Finally,  if  metals  and  metaloids  equal  in 
quantity  to  that  existing  throughout  space  were 
brought  together  there  would  be  the  same  ac- 
tivity—  each  atom  would  finally  unite  itself  to 
that  other  atom  for  which  it  had  the  strongest 
chemical  affinit}',  and  an  equilibrium  would 
finally  result.  It  would  only  be  a  question  of  a 
fixed  number  of  ages.  As  the  atoms  of  matter 
in  our  solar  system  are  of  a  fixed  number  be- 
yond our  grasp  of  mind,  so  those  ages  would  be 
of  a  fixed  number,  but  beyond  the  power  of  the 
mind  to  compass. 

This  equilibrium  or  rest  would  be  eternal, 
unless  some  external  force  should  disturb  it. 
But  outside  of  the  aggregate  matter  in  space 
there  is  no  force  known  to  science  or  presumed 


26  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

to  exist.     Therefore  the  equilibrium  would  be 
eternal. 

The  mechanical  forces  known  to  science  all 
obey  the  same  law  and  are  hurrying  on  to  the 
same  equilibrium.  Any  number  of  forces  act- 
ing produce  a  resultant,  and  at  some  certain 
point,  proportionately  affected  by  each  force,  is 
an  equilibrium  ;  so  that  any  object  operated 
upon  by  these  forces  will  keep  in  motion,  on 
the  resultant  line,  until  the  point  of  equilibrium 
is  reached.  Then  motion  will  cease  and  rest 
will  ensue.  That  rest  must  be  eternal,  unless 
some  external  or  additional  force  disturb  it. 
The  number  of  forces  will  only  vary  the  length 
of  time.  All  the  forces  operating  on  matter  in 
space  produce  a  resultant,  and  there  must  be 
some  point  where  there  is  a  centre  —  an  equi- 
librium—  toward  which  every  atom  of  matter 
in  space  is  surely  moving.  The  line  on  which 
each  atom  is  moving  toward  that  centre  is  the 
resultant  of  the  force  that  each  other  atom  in 
the  universe  exerts  upon  that  atom.  " Every 
particle  of  matter  in  the  universe  attracts  every 
other  particle  with  a  force  directly  as  their 


THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION.  27 

masses,  and  inversely  as  the  square  of  the  dist- 
ance which  separates  them,"  is  the  law  of  uni- 
versal gravitation  announced  by  science. 

Thus,  undoubtedly,  is  produced  the  motion 
of  all  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  of  all  matter 
throughout  space.  Planets  in  their  orbits,  suns 
and  systems  in  their  courses,  are  drawn  by  un- 
seen cords  extending  to  them  from  each  atom 
in  the  universe  however  distant.  Comets  and 
meteoric  bodies  pursue  their  apparently  erratic 
courses  on  lines  established  by  the  same  force. 
Here  and  there,  far  out  in  space,  are  nebulae 
formed  and  forming  from  stray  atoms  of  matter, 
which  since  the  morning  of  creation  have  been 
moving  on  resultant  lines  through  space,  in 
weary  journeyings  to  their  present  places,  as 
points  of  temporary  local  equilibrium.  All 
these  aggregates  are  whirling  through  space  in 
a  mazy,  mysterious  waltz,  rushing  on  in  spiral 
courses  to  the  central  point  of  final  equilibrium. 
And  in  localities,  suns,  planets,  and  satellites 
obey  the  same  law,  and  move  to  local  centres  of 
rest. 

What  is  thus  established  by  general  principles 


28  THF    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

of  science,  Herbert  Spencer  assumes  to  demon- 
strate, basing  his  proof  on  self-evident  truths 
of  science.  That  author  maintains  that  :  All 
masses,  organic  and  inorganic,  are  undergoing 
the  unequal  operations  of  force  upon  their  dif- 
ferent exterior  parts,  as  well  as  different  amounts 
upon  interior  and  exterior,  by  which  slowly,  yet 
surely,  all  undergo  disintegration.  All  aggre- 
gates are  crumbling.  Nevertheless,  under  ur- 
gency of  persistent  force,  agitating  and  diffusing 
through  all  things,  the  ultimate  result  will  be 
an  equalization.  Force  and  matter  will  by 
necessary  laws  be  so  distributed  that  the  strug- 
gle will  cease  and  complete  repose  ensue.  In 
the  end  a  final  equilibration  will  take  place  —  a 
universal  stagnation,  an  omnipresent  death. 

From  this  law  it  follows  that  the  thing  in  a 
state  of  mechanical  or  chemical  action  can  not 
be  eternal  in  that  state  or  condition.  For  all 
such  action  in  a  given  time  from  its  commence- 
ment results  in  an  equilibration  of  the  forces 
causing  that  action. 

There  is  then  a  beginning  to  all  such  action 
—a   point  of  time  when  it  commenced.     But 


THE    PLAN    OF   CREATION.  29 

eternity  is  without  a  beginning.  Therefore  the 
thing  in  such  a  state  of  action  can  not  be  eter- 
nal in  that  state  or  condition.  If  eternal,  it 
must  have  been  eternal  in  some  other  condition 
where  such  action  and  such  force  did  not  affect  it. 

Applying  the  foregoing  principles,  the  argu- 
ment runs  thus  :  The  earth  is  now  and  always 
has  been,  since  it  was  a  sphere,  undergoing 
chemical  and  mechanical  changes,  therefore  it 
can  not  be  eternal  in  its  present  condition. 

The  earth  is  now,  and  within  its  geological 
period  has  been,  in  a  state  of  chemical  and  me- 
chanical action.  Internal  and  external  changes 
are  occurring.  Volcanoes,  earthquakes,  geysers, 
and  various  other  phenomena,  are  directly  or 
remotely  the  result  of  chemical  action  occurring 
within  the  earth.  The  leveling  of  mountains 
and  hills,  the  wearing  away  of  rocks,  islands, 
and  continents,  and  the  filling  up  of  the  ocean 
beds  are  some  of  the  mechanical  changes  occur- 
ring on  the  surface  of  the  earth. 

This  chemical  action  will  cease  when  each 
atom  has  united  itselt'  to  that  other  atom  for 
which  it  has  the  greatest  chemical  affinity.  The 


30  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

mechanical  action  will  cease  when  each  part  of 
the  earth's  surface  is  equidistant  from  the 
earth's  centre,  somewhat  modified  by  the  revo- 
lution of  the  earth  on  its  axis.  Or  when  by  the 
loss  of  heat  the  earth  may  become  a  rigid  frozen 
globe,  having  absorbed  all  its  water  and  atmos- 
phere. In  which  case  mechanical  action  will 
cease.  An  equilibrium  of  the  chemical  and 
mechanical  forces  of  the  earth  will  then  be 
reached.  The  law  of  equilibrium  shows  that 
the  earth,  therefore,  has  not  existed  from  eter- 
nity in  its  present  condition. 

What  is  thus  shown  theoretically  is  confirmed, 
if  indeed  it  needs  any  confirmation,  by  the 
teachings  and  investigations  of  geology.  The 
further  back  we  go  the  more  active  and  the 
more  marked  are  these  changes.  An  examina- 
tion of  the  earth's  crust  shows  that  the  earth 
has  been  undergoing  changes  which  were  more 
violent  the  further  we  go  back  into  the  past. 

Beginning  with  the  present  time,  geology 
leads  us  back  through  the  Quartern*  ry  and 
Tertiary  periods.  During  the  Tertiary  period 
in  the  single  district  of  Auvergne,  in  France, 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  31 

were  over  sixty  volcanoes.  Whole  continents 
were  raised  out  of  the  ocean  during  these  two 
periods  by  the  forces  acting  within  the  earth. 
The  Sahara  Desert,  Lower  Egypt,  and  part  of 
Arabia  were  elevated  above  the  ocean.  A  large 
part  of  Northern  Europe,  of  Asia,  of  North 
and  South  America  were  lifted  out  of  the 
waters. 

Passing  by  an  indefinite  break  in  the  history 
of  the  earth,  which  geologists  have  not  been 
able  to  fill  up,  we  come  to  the  Secondary  or 
Mesozoic  period.  The  strata  indicate  that  the 
earth  was  subject  to  violent  convulsions  through- 
out this  age.  Passing  over  another  period  of 
missing  links,  like  that  between  the  Tertiary 
and  Mesozoic,  we  come  to  the  Paleozoic  epoch. 
As  we  enter  this  period  we  luwg  all  that  be- 
longs to  the  Mesozoic  age.  We  enter  upon  a 
different  world,  as  it  were.  During  this  time 
the  air  was  filled  with  carbon.  All  the  carbon 
now  in  the  coal  beds  and  vegetation  of  the 
earth  was  then  in  the  atmosphere.  The  earth 
was  then  inhabited  by  a  few  of  the  lower  orders 
of  animals.  Still  further  back  even  these  ani- 


32  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

mals  did  not  exist,  a  few  marine  mosses  being 
the  only  traces  of  organic  life.  Deeper  in  the 
ages  of  the  past  we  come  to  the  metamorphic 
rocks.  In  these  we  find  a  few  traces  of  organi- 
zation ;  finally,  even  these  disappear,  and  we 
find  rocks  that  were  once  stratified,  but  in  them 
are  no  signs  of  former  life.  Going  still  further 
into  those  hidden  ages,  through  whose  long 
vistas  cycles  dwindle  down  and  seem  but  days, 
we  come  to  the  igneous  rocks — rocks  which 
were  once  molten.  At  that  time  the  whole 
earth  was  in  a  molten  condition.  A  fiery, 
molten  ball,  enveloped  in  a  dense  cloud  of 
smoke,  steam,  and  vaporized  minerals,  it  went 
rolling  through  space  in  its  appointed  orbit. 
How  long?  We  may  not  number  the  years,  or 
the  ages  even,  but  they  are  of  a  fixed,  a  limited, 
number.  To  them  there  must  have  been  a 
beginning  as  well  as  an  ending.  If  we  regard 
this  as  the  primary  state  or  condition  of  the 
earth  it  was  impossible  for  it  to  have  been  eter- 
nal in  that  condition  ;  for  the  radiation  of  heat 
would  in  a  given  time  cool  the  earth,  thus  al- 
lowing a  crust  to  be  formed,  just  as  has  been 
done. 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  33 

The  amount  of  heat  was  limited  and,  how- 
ever small  the  decrements  might  be,  it  would 
not  take  an  infinite  number  of  them  to  equal 
the  whole  original  amount  of  heat.  Chemical 
action  could  not  have  supplied  heat  or  have 
kept  the  earth  in  a  molten  condition  during  all 
past  eternity  ;  for  this  action  must  in  a  given 
time  result  in  an  equilibrium,  so  that  it  could 
not  have  been  eternal. 

There  was  then  a  time  when  this  action  be- 
gan ;  since  then  science  teaches  it  has  been  di- 
minishing down  to  the  present.  A  time  will 
be  in  the  future  when,  by  inevitable  law,  it  will 
reach  an  equilibrium.  This  action  commenced 
when  the  chemical  elements  were  first  brought 
together  by  attraction.  By  the  laws  of  nature, 
then,  we  are  compelled  to  admit,  either  that  the 
earth  was  created  in  this  molten  form  from  noth- 
ing, or  we  are  compelled  to  look  further  back 
in  the  limitless  eternity  of  the  past  for  the  ex- 
istence of  matter  out  of  which  the  earth  was 
formed.  It  must  then  have  existed  scattered 
or  diffused  throughout  space. 

We  must  now  leave  the  record  of  geology.    It 


34  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

can  carry  us  no  farther  into  the  past.  Its  work 
is  done,  and  well  done. 

Astronomy  next  takes  up  the  wonderful  story 
and  informs  us  that  the  matter  out  of  which 
the  earth  and  the  starry  hosts  of  heaven  were 
formed  was  at  a  still  more  remote  period,  prob- 
ably scattered  or  diffused  in  a  gaseous  or  fluid 
condition  throughout  the  boundless  expanse  of 
space.  Already  there  have  been  eliminated 
from  the  problem  the  two  quantities  —  that  the 
earth  is  eternal  in  its  present  form,  or  that  it 
could  have  existed  from  eternity  in  its  molten 
condition. 

It  is  very  generally  received  as  a  true  theory 
that  the  matter  out  of  which  all  the  worlds  and 
hosts  of  heaven  were  formed  was  once  scattered 
or  diffused  in  space  ;  and  that  attraction  drew 
this  matter  together  at  various  points,  thus 
forming  the  earth  and  all  other  aggregates  of 
matter.  This  matter  could  not  have  existed 
from  eternity  in  a  diffused  condition,  for  the 
same  force  of  attraction  which  eventually  drew 
it  together,  forming  these  bodies  in  space,  would 
in  the  beginning  of  eternity  (if  there  could  be 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  35 

such  a  beginning)  have  drawn  matter  together. 
So  the  earth  would  of  necessity  be  eternal 
(lacking  a  given  period  of  time)  in  its  pres- 
ent form.  In  such  a  case,  chemical  and  me- 
chanical action  now  operating  would  long  ago 
have  reached  an  equilibrium.  If  one  were  to 
announce  that  the  sand  of  the  Great  Sahara 
Desert  had  remained  from  eternity  above  the 
earth  unsupported,  and  that  a  few  million  years 
ago  it  fell  to  its  present  place,  it  would  at  once 
be  pronounced  impossible.  For  the  very  instant 
the  sand  was  unsupported  that  very  instant  it 
would  start  toward  the  earth.  It  would  not  re- 
main stationary  a  moment.  So  when  matter 
first  existed  throughout  space  that  instant  it 
started  to  move  together. 

Will  any  one  maintain  that  matter  has  been 
all  past  eternity  in  coming  together?  The  dist- 
ance from  the  point  where  each  atom  was  lo- 
cated, while  matter  was  diffused,  to  where  that 
atom  now  is.  is  a  limited  distance,  and  however 
slowly  matter  traveled,  and  however  great  that 
distance  may  have  been,  it  would  only  require 
a  fixed  time  for  each  atom  to  pass  over  the  dist- 


36  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

ance.  Countless  millions  of  years  are  no  more 
a  part  of  eternity  than  a  single  hour. 

The  conclusion,  therefore,  follows  :  that  mat- 
ter has  not  existed  from  eternity  diffused  in 
space.  It,  therefore,  must  have  been  created 
from  nothing.  This  probably  was  by  the  crea- 
tion of  the  atoms  in  the  diffused  state,  or  at 
some  time  prior  to  the  earth's  existing  as  a 
molten  globe. 

The  only  apparent  escape  from  the  conclusion 
that  matter  was  created  from  nothing  is  one  of 
the  following : 

First. — That  some  repelling  force,  of  greater 
power  than  attraction,  kept  matter  scattered 
throughout  space,  during  eternity  past,  and 
that  a  certain  number  of  ages  ago  that  repelling 
force  ceased  to  exist. 

Second. — That  during  eternit}7  past  matter  ex- 
isted motionless  and  without  attraction,  until  a 
certain  number  of  ages  ago,  and  that  then  at- 
traction began. 

Third. — That  the  atoms  of  matter  were  equi- 
distant from  each  other  and  co-extensive  with 
space,  so  that  each  atom  was  equally  attracted 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION.  37 

in  every  direction,  thus  producing  an  equilibri- 
um in  the  diffused  mass. 

Fourth. — That  matter  has  gone  through  an 
infinite  series  of  changes. 

The  first  hypothesis  is  not  true  ;  for  if  a  re- 
pelling force  kept  matter  scattered  throughout 
space  during  eternity  past,  it  would  continue  to 
do  so  forever.  If  this  force  gradually  dimin- 
ished until  it  ceased  to  exist  then  it  could  not 
have  existed  from  eternity;  for  it  must  have 
been  a  finite  force,  and  each  decrement  reduced 
it  until  it  ceased  to  exist.  Now,  however  great 
the  original  force,  and  however  small  each  de- 
crement, it  would  only  require  a  given  time  to 
reduce  it  to  nothing.  Therefore  eternity  past 
has  not  been  spent  in  decreasing  such  a  finite 
repelling  force,  reducing  it  to  nothing.  An  in- 
finite force  could  not  be  decreased,  but  would 
forever  remain  keeping  matter  diffused.  The 
hypothesis  is  impossible.  It  involves  the  con- 
tradiction, that  to  remove  a  finite  number  of 
decrements  has  occupied  an  infinite  time.  The 
hypothesis  is,  therefore,  not  true. 

The  second  hypothesis  can  not  be  true,  that 


38  THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

matter  existed  during  eternity  past  without  at- 
traction until  a  certain  number  of  ages  ago. 
For  attraction  is  an  essential  property  of  mat- 
ter without  which  it  could  not  exist.  That 
which  could  exist  without  attraction  would  not 
be  what  we  now  call  matter.  It  would  be  some- 
thing else.  We  are  now  dealing  with  facts  as 
known  and  forming  therefrom  a  theory.  The 
fact  is  that  attraction  now  exists  inseparable 
from  matter.  It  is  a  law  of  matter  —  an  essen- 
tial property  thereof.  It  is  one  of  the  immu- 
table laws  of  nature.  If  it  did  so  exist  with- 
out attraction,  whence  then  came  attraction  ? 
What  caused  it  to  act?  It  will  be  time  enough 
to  further  consider  this  proposition  when  some 
one  affirms  it,  and  furnishes  any  fact  or  evi- 
dence in  support  of  it. 

The  third  hypothesis,  that  the  atoms  of  mat- 
ter were  equidistant  from  each  other,  and  co- 
extensive with  space,  so  that  each  atom  was 
equally  attracted  in  every  direction,  thus  pro- 
ducing an  equilibrium  in  the  diffused  mass,  can 
not  be  true.  For  if  an  equilibrium  once  thus 
existed  it  would  be  eternal.  Attraction  being 


THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION.  39 

once  in  equilibrium,  it  could  not  disturb  itself, 
and  the  present  order  of  motion  never  could 
have  occurred.  The  truth  of  this  hypothesis 
would  contradict  the  entire  present  order  of 
motion,  and  is  therefore  impossible. 

The  remaining  hypothesis,  that  matter  has 
gone  through  an  infinite  series  of  changes,  is 
equally  untenable.  A  series  of  changes  implies 
that  a  force  is  constantly  changing.  That 
force  which  produced  a  change  would  forever 
keep  matter  in  the  new  condition,  unless  some 
new  force  overpowered  the  one  which  preceded 
it.  This  could  only  occur  by  reason  of  the  first 
force  diminishing  until  it  became  less  than  the 
second,  or  on  account  of  the  second  force  in- 
creasing until  it  became  greater  than  the  first. 
The  first  supposition  can  not  be  true,  for  it  im- 
plies that  a  force  in  nature  has,  in  part  or  in 
whole,  ceased  to  exist.  That  force  must  have 
had  a  beginning,  since  which  time  it  has  con- 
stantly diminished.  The  whole  of  the  original 
was  equal  to  the  aggregate  of  the  decrements. 
The  force  was  limited,  therefore  was  not  eter- 
nal. It  must  have  been  created  from  nothing. 


40  THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION. 

But,  assuming  that  there  is  no  creative  power, 
it  follows  that  no  such  force  ever  existed,  and 
subsequently  ceased  to  exist  either  in  part  or  as 
a  whole. 

That  a  second  force  increased  until  it  became 
greater  than  the  first  one,  and  thus  produced  a 
change,  implies  that  at  some  time  an  increment 
of  force  was  added  to  the  original,  then  others, 
until  by  addition  the  second  force  became 
greater  than  the  first.  This  involves  the  crea- 
tion of  each  increment  of  force.  And  we  thus 
reach  the  same  conclusion  as  before.  Again, 
each  force  being  greater  than  the  former,  the 
succeeding  change  would  be  more  violent,  and 
no  equilibrium  ever  could  be  reached. 

The  force  which  produces  an  equilibrium 
must  be  greater  than  or  equal  to  all  others  com- 
bined which  tend  to  prevent  an  equilibrium. 
The  force  which  is  producing  an  equilibrium  is 
resistance,  or  the  impenetrability  of  matter. 

When  two  atoms  of  matter  are  drawn  together 
they  are  at  rest  relatively  to  each  other.  The 
motion  toward  each  other  has  been  destroyed 
by  the  resistance  each  atom  makes  to  the  ad- 


THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION.  41 

vance  of  the  other.  So  a  chemical  force  ceases 
to  act  when  each  atom  is  attached  to  that  other 
atom  for  which  it  has  the  strongest  chemical  af- 
finity. The  chemical  force,  having  brought  the 
proper  atoms  together,  ceases  to  produce  motion 
or  further  change.  It  remains  in  equilibrium. 

An  infinite  series  of  changes  requires  the 
creation  or  destruction  of  an  infinite  number  of 
new  forces  at  different  times.  Whereas,  on  the 
supposition  that  there  is  no  creative  power  in 
nature,  the  theory  of  an  infinite  series  of 
changes  becomes  impossible — it  involves  a  con- 
tradiction—  to- wit:  a  force  created  and  no  cre- 
ative power. 

In  conclusion,  as  the  earth  is  not  eternal  in 
its  present  condition — nor  was  it  eternal  in  a 
molten  state — and  as  matter  did  not  exist  from 
eternity  diffused  in  space,  and  as  it  did  not  go 
through  an  infinite  series  of  changes,  therefore 
it  must  have  been  created  from  nothing.  This 
is  incomprehensible,  but  not  impossible.  We 
do  not  understand  how  it  is  so,  and  we  can  not 
say  it  involves  a  contradiction.  All  the  other 
theories  do  involve  a  contradiction,  and  are 
therefore  impossible,  and  can  not  be  true. 


42  THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

The  whole  argument  is  reduced  to  this:  If 
matter  has  always  been  subject  to  its  present 
properties  arid  laws,  it  can  not  be  eternal.  It 
has  always  been  subject  to  its  present  properties 
and  laws,  therefore  it  can  not  be  eternal.  It 
must  have  been  at  some  period  created. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THAT    THERE    IS   A    GOD,    OMNIPOTENT,    ETERNAL,    UN- 
CHANGING,   INFINITE,    AND    OF    FREE   WILL. 

As  matter  was  created  from  nothing,  it  fol- 
lows as  an  irresistible  conclusion  that  there  is  a 
Being  who  created  it.  If  matter  existed  with- 
out attraction,  or  other  of  its  present  proper- 
ties or  laws,  then  since  inanimate  matter  from 
inanimate  matter  could  not  give  to  itself  new 
and  theretofore  unpossessed  properties,  there 
must  be  a  Being  who  did  create  these  proper- 
ties. Therefore,  whether  matter  is,  or  is  not, 
eternal,  there  must  be  a  Being  who  either  cre- 
ated matter  from  nothing,  or  who  subjected 
matter  to  its  present  properties  and  laws.  Vari- 
ous names  are  used  to  designate  this  Being.  He 
is  called  Vy  some — The  Great  First  Cause,  The 
Unknown,  The  Unknowable,  The  Infinite.  He 
is  called  by  others — God.  The  name  makes  no 
difference.  In  each  case  it  is  used  to  designate 
the  same  Being,  the  same  Power. 


44  THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 

This  Being  is  omnipotent,  eternal,  unchang- 
ing, infinite,  and  of  free  will.  Omnipotent 
means  all-powerful — having  power  greater  than 
all,  or  over  and  above  all  other  power  or  powers 
combined. 

He  created  matter  out  of  nothing  ;  lie  caused 
the  laws  governing  matter  ;  He  created  life,  and 
the  laws  governing  life.  These  embrace  all 
things,  so  far  as  we  know,  exterior  to  God. 
Therefore,  if  he  had  the  power  to  create  these 
things,  His  power  is  greater  than  the  power  in 
all  these  things  combined.  He  is  all-powerful, 
omnipotent.  How  much  greater  His  power  is 
than  the  power  thus  indicated  we  do  not  know. 
We  can  only  measure  power  by  the  result  it 
accomplishes.  His  power  accomplished  the  crea- 
tion of  all  matter,  and  life,  and  the  laws  govern- 
ing them.  We  know  of  nothing  else,  hence  He 
is  all-p&iuerfttl — onmi-potens — as  to  these  things. 
Beyond  this  measure  of  power  it  is  useless  to 
speculate. 

He  is  eternal.  For  if  not,  then  since  matter 
is  not  eternal,  there  was  a  period  in  eternity 
past  when  neither  matter  nor  a  Creative  Being 


THE   PLAN   OF    CREATION.  45 

existed.  There  was  nothing.  How  then  did 
nothing  from  nothing  create  an  Omnipotent  Be- 
ing, or  even  matter?  He  is  therefore  eternal. 

He  is  unchanging.  If  not,  then  His  powers 
or  attributes  are  either  increasing  or  decreasing. 
If  increasing,  then  there  must  be  an  increment 
either  of  constant  or  irregular  addition. 

Now,  going  further  and  further  back  into 
eternity  past,  and  taking  away  each  increment 
by  which  He  has  been  increased,  there  will 
finally  be  taken  away  the  last  increment,  and 
there  will  be  nothing  left.  A  period  in  the 
past  is  thus  reached  when  there  was  no  God. 
But  it  has  already  been  shown  that  He  is  eter- 
nal. 

If  His  powers  or  faculties  are  decreasing,  then 
there  will  be  a  time  in  the  future  when  there 
will  be  no  God.  For  decrement  after  decrement 
being  removed,  there  will  finally  be  nothing 
left.  This  implies  that  God  has  not  the  power 
to  prevent  Sis  own  annihilation,  and  that  there 
is  a  power  superior  to  His.  But  in  the  subse- 
quent pages  it  is  shown  that  no  such  power 
could  exist. 

V* 


46  THE   PLAN   OF    CREATION. 

Therefore,  we  conclude  that  He  is  neither  in- 
creasing nor  decreasing  ;  that  He  is  the  same 
in  every  respect  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever. 
He  is  the  unchanging  One. 

He  is  infinite.  This  word  is  from  two  Latin 
words,  in  meaning  not,  andj^mre,  to  bound,  to  cir- 
cumscribe, to  limit,  to  end.  This  Being  is  not 
bounded  or  circumscribed  by  matter  in  space, 
for  He  is  the  Creator.  The  things  created  can 
not  limit  the  Creator.  Neither  can  the  created 
beings  limit  or  circumscribe  Him.  As  author, 
or  establisher  of  all  forces  and  laws,  He  is  above 
them,  and  not  limited  or  controlled  by  them. 
Eternity  past  or  future  runs  not  beyond  His 
existence,  for  as  shown.  He  is  without  begin- 
ning of  days  or  end  of  years.  He  is,  therefore, 
not  bounded,  circumscribed,  or  limited;  neither 
is  there  any  end  for  Him.  He  is  infinite. 

He  is  of  free  will.  As  matter  is  not  eternal, 
there  was  a  time  in  the  past  when  nothing  but 
God  existed.  There  was  nothing  of  which  we 
have  any  indication,  external  to  Himself,  to 
compel  Him  to  act  or  to  refrain.  If  He  acted, 
it  was  because  He  willed  it.  If  some  external 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  47 

tiling  compelled  Him  to  act,  that  thing  must  be 
co-existing  with  God,  eternal  as  He  is  eternal. 
Otherwise,  God  of  His  own  will,  caused  or  cre- 
ated that  which  compelled  Him  afterward  to 
act.  If  the  thing  is  eternal,  then  that  thing 
which  compelled  Him,  a  certain  number  of 
years  ago,  to  create  matter  or  give  it  its  proper- 
ties, and  to  establish  the  present  order  of  things, 
would  in  the  beginning  of  eternity  (if  such  a 
time  could  be)  have  compelled  Him  to  create 
or  establish  them.  Lacking  that  certain  num- 
ber of  years  they  would  be  eternal,  which  is  a 
contradiction  ;  for  no  given  number  of  years 
deducted  from  eternity  diminishes  it.  If  it  was 
not  powerful  enough  to  compel  Him  to  act,  un- 
til a  certain  number  of  years  ago,  it  was  not 
infinite.  Infinity  can  not  be  increased. 

Going  back  into  the  past  further  and  further, 
at  the  same  time  taking  away  each  integral  by 
which  the  power  was  augmented,  the  power 
which  by  these  increments  became  the  cause  of 
action  finally  becomes  nothing.  What  started 
this  power  or  created  its  increments?  To  say 
that  it  was  the  nature  of  the  power  so  to  be, 


48  THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 

and  so  to  increase,  is  the  same  as  to  say  that  it 
is  God's  nature  which  compelled  Him  to  do  as 
he  has  done.  If  His  own  nature  has  compelled 
Him  to  create  the  present  order  of  things  a  cer- 
tain number  of  ages  ago  it  would  have  compel- 
led him  in  the  beginning  of  eternity  (if  such  a 
time  could  be)  to  create  them.  This  is  the 
same  hypothesis  heretofore  shown  to  be  impos- 
sible. 

The  conclusion,  therefore,  must  be  that  there 
is  a  God  of  free  will,  who,  existing  through  all 
eternity,  did,  when  it  pleased  Him,  establish  of 
His  own  free  will  the  present  order  of  things. 

The  conclusions  reached  in  this  chapter  are 
based  on  the  immutability  of  the  law  of  nature 
• — that  matter  and  its  properties  are  co-existent 
and  inseparable.  If  we  assume  that  this  law  is 
not  true,  then  there  must  be  a  God  who  created 
or  established  these  properties,  and  the  laws 
governing  matter.  We  see  no  escape  from  the 
conclusion  that  the  laws  and  facts  in  nature 
establish  the  proposition  that  there  is  a  God, 
omnipotent,  eternal,  unchanging,  infinite,  and 
of  free  will. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  PLAN  OF  CREATION  AND  ITS  GENERAL  CHARACTER- 
ISTICS. 

It  being  established  as  a  fact  that  there  is  a 
God — omnipotent,  eternal,  unchanging,  infinite, 
and  of  free  will  —  we  ask  at  this  time  to  be  al- 
lowed temporarily  to  assume  as  true  that  God 
is  a  being  of  perfect  and  infinite  benevolence. 

Kepler  assumed  that  the  planets  moved  in 
elliptical  orbits  with  the  sun  near  one  of  the 
foci.  Having  assumed  this,  he  demonstrated 
that  the  known  facts  relating  to  the  motion  of 
the  planets  would  thus  be  accounted  for.  It  was 
the  simplest  hypothesis  that  would  agree  with 
the  facts.  Therefore,  the  assumed  hypothesis  is 
considered  as  true.  From  this  proposition  many 
other  facts,  before  unknown,  were  deduced  as 
conclusions,  and  the  number  of  known  facts 
greatly  increased. 

Now,  assuming  that  God  is  a  being  of  perfect 


50  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

benevolence,  we  propose  to  show  what  plan  of 
creation  would  be  adopted,  and  how  that  plan 
would  harmonize  with  the  known  facts  ;  and  by 
reason  of  its  harmonizing  with  the  facts  the 
truth  of  the  hypothesis  becomes  highly  probable 
or  established.  Benevolence  is  an  active  prin- 
ciple or  faculty.  Its  very  name  implies  that  it 
confers  enjoyment  and  good  on  others  than  its 
possessor.  Bene  volens — well  acting  or  willing. 
Hence,  the  assumed  perfect  benevolence  of  God 
could  not,  and  would  not,  exist  without  his 
conferring  enjoyment  and  happiness  on  others 
than  himself.  He  would,  therefore,  call  into 
existence  beings  capable  of  enjoyment.  Per- 
fect benevolence  would  be  satisfied  only  with 
the  greatest  enjoyment,  for  the  greatest  length  of  time, 
to  the  greatest  number,  with  the  least  suffering  to  the 
fewest  individuals. 

We  thus  arrive  at  three  important  conclusions: 
First. — There  would  be  a  creation  of  beings 
capable  of  enjoyment. 

Second. — The  great  final  objects  of  such  a 
creation  would  be  the  greatest  enjoyment,  for 
the  greatest  length  of  time,  to  the  greatest  nurn- 


THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION.  51 

ber,  with  the  least  suffering  to  the  fewest  indi- 
viduals. 

Third. — These  objects  could  be  accomplished 
only  by  some  general  plan,  perfect  as  a  whole 
and  in  all  its  details.  This  general  plan  we 
designate  THE  PLAN  OF  CREATION.  It  embraces 
every  created  thing,  from  the  highest  archangel 
or  spiritual  being  (if  there  is  such),  down 
through  all  the  forms  of  animal  and  vegetable 
life  to  matter  ;  embracing  it  in  all  its  forms 
and  extent,  from  the  atom  to  the  worlds,  sys- 
tems, and  universes  that  may  exist  throughout 
the  infinite  depths  of  space.  It  embraces  all 
these  objects,  from  the  time  wThen  the  first  cre- 
ative act  occurred,  on  down  through  time  to 
the  end  thereof,  and  on,  on  through  the  endless 
ages  of  the  future,  so  long  as  any  of  the  things 
created  shall  endure. 

There  was  then  a  period  in  eternity  past 
when  God,  existing  alone,  commenced  to  create 
beings  for  the  purpose  of  conferring  the  great- 
est enjoyment,  for  the  greatest  length  of  time, 
on  the  greatest  number,  with  the  least  suffering 
to  the  fewest  individuals.  Then  was  initiated 


52  THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION." 

his  PLAN  OF  CREATION,  measured  in  its  extent  by 
his  omnipotence,  and  perfected  by  his  infinite 
wisdom.  He  knew  the  length  and  breadth  of 
this  plan.  He  knew  it  in  all  of  its  details,  and 
in  all  of  its  workings,  in  all  of  its  effects,  from 
the  least  to  the  greatest,  from  the  first  to  the 
last.  He  knew  the  end  of  it  from  the  begin- 
ning, with  all  the  intermediate  events.  Why 
should  he  not?  He  formed  it.  Does  not  he 
who  forms  know  what  he  has  formed? 

A  plan  of  creation  implies  a  law  co-extensive 
with  the  plan.  The  mode  or  manner,  in  or  by 
which  the  plan  operates,  is  the  law  of  the  plan 
of  creation.  Therefore,  when  God  initiated  the 
plan  of  creation  he  also  established  the  law  or 
manner  by  which  this  plan  should  be  carried 
into  effect.  The  manner  in  which  each  division, 
subdivision,  individual,  and  organ  of  an  indi- 
vidual moved  on  to  its  destiny  would  be  the 
law  thereof.  The  manner  in  which  matter 
evolved  all  of  its  phenomena  would  be  the  law 
or  laws  of  matter.  The  manner  in  which  life 
appeared  at  the  proper  times,  and  proceeded  to 
accomplish  its  mission,  would  be  the  law  of  life. 


THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION.  53 

The  manner  in  which  beings  capable  of  enjoy- 
ment attained  it,  would  be  the  law  of  enjoy- 
ment. Law  would,  therefore,  govern  the  whole 
from  atoms  to  aggregates. 


CHAPTER  V. 


WHAT    KIND    OF    BEINGS    WOULD     BE     CREATED,     AND 
THEIR   NUMBER. 


In  the  preceding  chapter  we  arrived  at  these 
conclusions  : 

First. — There  would  be  a  creation  of  beings 
capable  of  enjoyment. 

Second. — The  great  final  object  of  such  a  crea- 
tion would  be  the  greatest  enjoyment,  for  the 
greatest  length  of  time,  to  the  greatest  number, 
with  the  least  suffering  to  the  fewest  individ- 
uals. 

As  matter  is  not  capable  of  enjoyment,  its 
creation  would  not  satisfy  any  of  these  condi- 
tions. There  would  then  be  a  creation  of  sen- 
tient beings  at  least  capable  of  the  lowest  enjoy- 
ment— that  is,  of  barely  distinguishing  between 
the  sensations  of  pain  and  pleasure.  This  would 
satisfy  the  first  requirement.  But  the  second 
proposition  requires  the  greatest  enjoyment.  To 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  55 

satisfy  this  condition,  we  at  once  pass  from  the 
being  capable  of  the  least  to  the  being  capable 
of  the  highest  enjoyment,  whatever  that  being 
may  be.  It  must  be  something  different  from 
matter. 

Let  it,  therefore,  be  called  spirit  or  mind  to 
distinguish  it  from  the  being  above  referred  to 
least  capable  of  enjoyment.  Such  a  being 
would  possess  all  the  faculties  of  enjoyment 
that  man  has  —  intellectual  and  moral  —  and 
other  unknown  faculties,  if  there  be  such.  It 
would  be  free  from  many  or  all  of  the  causes  of 
suffering  to  which  man  is  subject,  especially  such 
as  arise  from  the  connection  of  mind  with  mat- 
ter. For  the  purpose  of  this  argument,  let 
this  being  or  spirit,  capable  of  the  greatest  en- 
joyment, be  called  an  archangel. 

The  second  proposition  requires  not  only  the 
greatest  enjoyment,  but  also  that  it  should  be 
for  the  greatest  length  of  time.  The  greatest 
length  of  time  is  eternity.  Hence,  this  being, 
this  spirit,  or  archangel,  would  be  immortal. 
Referring  again  to  the  second  proposition,  the 
great  final  object  of  this  creation  would  be  the 


56  THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION. 

greatest  enjoyment,  for  the  greatest  length  of 
time,  to  the  greatest  number. 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  satisfy  this  third  term 
of  the  equation,  to- wit:  to  the  greatest  number. 
Before  proceeding  further  it  is  necessary  to 
clearly  define  the  proposition  before  us,  or  a 
grave  error  may  result. 

An  infinite  number  is  the  greatest  number. 
The  reader  might  conclude  that  an  infinite  num- 
ber of  archangels,  each  a  duplicate  of  the  first, 
would  alone  satisfy  the  equation,  as  an  arch- 
angel is  here  assumed  to  be  capable  of  the 
greatest  enjoyment.  But  this  is  not  the  case. 
For  if  they  were  each  identical  with  the  first 
they  would  each  have  the  same  thoughts  at  the 
same  time,  and  would  say  the  same  thing  at  the 
same  time.  An  infinite  amount  of  monotony 
would  result,  which  would  make  the  amount  of 
enjoyment  less  than  the  greatest  enjoyment. 
Let  each  archangel  vary  a  little  from  the  others 
at  the  time  of  his  creation  in  the  strength  of 
one  or  more  faculties  and  variety  results.  This 
variety  at  once  contributes  to  the  greatest  en- 
joyment. How  many  faculties,  how  many  vari- 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION.  57 

ations  of  each  faculty,  and  how  many  combina- 
tions representing  an  individual  archangel  are 
possible,  each  differing  from  all  the  others — not 
a  duplicate  to  be  found,  yet  each  one  an  arch- 
angel ;  all  belonging  to  one  order,  created  with 
a  given  amount  of  knowledge,  but  each  varying 
from  the  others,  and  that  variety  a  source  of 
enjoyment  to  all.  The  number  would  not  be 
infinite,  but  would  be  limited  to  the  number  of 
combinations  and  variations. 

After  filling  out  this  order  of  archangels,  the 
equation  is  not  satisfied.  The  greatest  enjoy- 
ment to  the  greatest  number  is  not  yet  completed. 
To  create  another  group  of  archangels  would  be 
to  duplicate  each  one  created  ;  and  for  that 
matter  duplicate  it  an  infinite  number  of  times, 
and  again  produce  monotony.  But  create  a 
lower  order  of  beings,  less  developed  in  their 
whole  class  of  faculties,  having  a  less  amount  of 
knowledge  at  the  time  of  their  creation,  and 
variety  would  again  result,  thereby  aiding  to 
produce  the  greatest  happiness  to  the  greatest 
number. 

To  distinguish  those  of  the  second  order  from 


58  THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 

the  first,  call  them  angels.  Each  one,  when 
created,  would  vary  from  the  others  in  its  com- 
bination of  faculties,  the  same  as  in  the  higher 
order. 

Order  after  order  would  thus  be  created,  each 
a  little  lower  than  the  preceding  one  in  strength 
of  faculties  and  amount  of  knowledge  at  the 
time  of  its  creation.  Evidently  an  order  would 
be  reached,  so  low  in  the  scale  of  existence, 
that  it  would  necessarily  be  created  without 
any  knowledge — or  some  of  the  faculties  would 
be  omitted,  or  both  might  occur. 

Before  proceeding  further  with  this  branch  of 
the  subject,  we  wish  to  take  up  another  matter 
which  will  materially  assist  the  reader  in  under- 
standing the  creation  of  the  lower  order  of  be- 
ings. We  refer  to  the  laws  according  to  which 
enjoyment  is  attained.  From  the  considera- 
tion of  these  laws  will  more  fully  appear  other 
characteristics  of  the  different  orders  of  beings 
that  would  be  created,  to  fill  out  the  PLAN  OF 
CREATION. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    LAWS   ACCORDING   TO  WHICH   ENJOYMENT   IS   AT- 
TAINED. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  was  shown  the  kind 
of  beings  that  would  be  created,  and  that  each 
would  be  created  with  certain  faculties  of  mind 
and  with  a  certain  amount  of  knowledge.  But 
shall  those  faculties  forever  remain  as  at  the 
moment  of  creation?  Shall  the  amount  of 
knowledge  with  which  each  being  was  created 
forever  remain  as  at  first?  If  so,  then  the  en- 
joyment would  ever  be  as  in  the  beginning. 
The  same  knowledge,  neither  more  nor  less, 
would  become  monotonous.  The  greatest  en- 
joyment would  not  thus  be  attained. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  faculties  became 
stronger  and  stronger,  the  capacity  for  enjoy- 
ment would  be  greater  and  greater,  and  as  the 
amount  of  knowledge  increased,  so  would  the 
enjoyment.  The  greatest  enjoyment  for  the 


60  THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION. 

longest  time,  would  require  that  these  beings 
should,  during  eternity,  constantly  increase  in 
their  capacity  for  enjoyment  and  in  their  amount 
of  knowledge.  And  as  to  capacity  and  knowl- 
edge, there  would  be  no  limit.  The  finite  may 
constantly  approach  the  infinite,  but  can  never 
itself  become  infinite. 

There  must  be  some  mode  or  law  established 
whereby  the  capacity  for  enjoyment  may  be  in- 
creased, and  whereby  more  knowledge  may  be 
acquired. .  This  can  best  be  done,  and  can  only 
be  done,  by  establishing  an  invariable  connec- 
tion between  cause  and  effect.  Like  cause  must 
always  produce  like  effect.  If  this  were  not  the 
case,  then  the  cause  which  at  one  time  produced 
enjoyment,  at  another  time  might  produce  pain. 
That  which  would  increase  knowledge  at  one 
time  would  not  increase  it  at  another.  The 
same  cause  not  producing  the  same  effect  would 
render  it  impossible  for  the  greatest  enjoyment 
to  be  attained  by  the  greatest  number,  for  the 
greatest  length  of  time,  with  the  least  suffering 
to  the  fewest  individuals. 

The  first  law,  then,  by  which  the  greatest  en- 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  61 

joyment  could  be  attained,  would  be  that  the 
same  cause  shall  always  produce  the  same  effect. 
In  order  then  that  these  beings  might  attain  en- 
joyment, there  would  be  established  a  vast  num- 
ber or  series  of  causes,  which  would,  when  fol- 
lowed out,  produce  enjoyment. 

But  these  beings  are  created  with  a  capacity 
for.  enjoyment  and  knowledge  that  forever  in- 
creases. Therefore,  the  causes  of  enjoyment 
must  be  infinite,  or  else  the  time  will  arrive 
when  they  will  be  exhausted,  or  when  new  cre- 
ations must  occur. 

It  evidently  follows  from  the  foregoing  that 
the  second  law  by  which  the  greatest  enjoyment 
could  be  attained  would  be,  that  these  beings 
must  exist,  or  act  in  accordance,  with  this  series 
of  causes. 

The  causes  of  enjoyment  may  be  interior  or 
exterior  to  the  being.  The  interior  are  con- 
sciousness of  its  own  existence,  and  such  reason- 
ing as  may  result  from  that  knowledge.  The 
exterior  causes  of  enjoyment  are  all  things  that 
exist  exterior  to  the  being. 

To  illustrate  :  The  first  archangel  when  ere- 


62  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

ated  was  alone.  His  only  source  of  enjoyment 
was  his  consciousness  and  such  thoughts  as  were 
awakened  by  his  own  existence.  But  when  the 
second  being  was  created,  this  act  of  creation 
was  a  source  of  knowledge  and  enjoyment  to  the 
first.  The  two  could  study  each  other.  Their 
class  of  thoughts  were  different,  and  each  was 
a  source  of  enjoyment  to  the  other. 

As  each  successive  being  and  as  each  succes- 
sive order  was  created,  each  was  a  source  of  en- 
joyment to  the  others.  Those  of  the  higher 
order  would  communicate  their  knowledge  to 
those  of  the  lower  orders,  and  each  would  do 
what  produced  pleasure  to  himself  and  to  the 
others. 

The  sources  of  enjoyment  would  be  infinite, 
for  God  himself  would  create  the  causes,  or 
rather  God  as  manifested  in  acts  of  creation,  or 
otherwise,  would  be  the  great  cause  of  enjoy- 
ment. The  creation  of  each  archangel  was  but 
a  manifestation  of  God,  or  of  the  idea  which 
God  entertained  on  that  subject.  Therefore, 
that  these  beings  might  have  the  greatest  enjoy- 
ment for  the  greatest  length  of  time,  it  would 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  63 

be  necessary  that  they  should  know  what  causes 
would  produce  enjoyment,  and  that  they  should 
know  in  what  relation  to  place  themselves  to 
those  causes.  This  would  be  done  either  by 
their  being  created  with  sufficient  knowledge, 
or  by  their  being  subsequently  informed  on  the 
subject. 

The  first  archangel,  therefore,  was  created 
with  sufficient  knowledge  of  this  law  and  of 
these  causes  to  enable  him.  by  proper  use  of 
his  faculties,  to  select  such  causes  as  would 
produce  happiness.  The  faculties  with  which 
he  was  created  would  enable  him  to  study  out 
this  law  as  it  applied  to  new  things  occurring 
during  the  ages  of  his  existence.  What  knowl- 
edge each  lower  archangel  lacked  at  the  time 
of  his  creation  would  be  imparted  to  him  by 
the  higher,  thus  giving  the  enjoyment  of  teach- 
ing and  learning. 

From  the  proposition  that  the  faculties  of 
these  spiritual  beings  would  have  the  capacity 
to  forever  increase  in  strength  and  in  the  ac- 
quisition of  knowledge,  we  arrive  at  the  con- 
clusion that  there  would  be  created  or  estab- 


64  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

lished  an  infinite  number  of  causes,  or  series  of 
causes,  of  enjoyment,  and  that  the  same  cause 
would  always  produce  the  same  effect.  From 
the  foregoing  we  see  more  clearly  the  second 
law,  that  enjoyment  would  be  attained  by  these 
beings  acting,  or  existing,  in  accordance  with 
these  causes,  or  series  of  causes.  If  these  be- 
ings obeyed  this  law,  they  would  have  enjoy- 
ment. If  they  neglected  it,  or  acted  contrary 
to  it,  enjoyment  would  not  be  attained. 

It  can  readily  be  seen,  that  in  creating  suc- 
cessive lower  orders  of  these  beings,  each  with 
less  knowledge  than  the  preceding,  an  order 
would  be  reached  which,  at  the  time  of  its  cre- 
ation, would  have  no  knowledge  of  these  laws, 
or  it  would  be  wanting  in  some  of  the  faculties 
with  which  to  apprehend  them. 

We  are  thus  brought  to  consider  whether 
there  could  be  created  inferior  orders  of  beings, 
lacking  more  or  less  faculties  given  to  the  high- 
er orders.  The  further  question  arises,  What 
other  sources  of  enjoyment  can  be  called  into 
existence  in  order  to  accomplish  the  great  final 
objects  of  the  PLAN  OF  CREATION  ? 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  CREATION  OF  MATTER  AND  THE  PURPOSE  FOR 
WHICH  IT  WAS  CREATED. 

Having  created  all  the  various  orders  of  an- 
gelic beings  to  have  enjoyment  themselves,  and 
as  sources  of  happiness  to  each  other,  the  ques- 
tion arises  —  Can  there  be  created  any  other 
sources  of  enjoyment?  If  so,  they  must  be  cre- 
ated in  order  to  produce  the  greatest  enjoyment 
to  those  beings  already  in  existence. 

Whatever  was  created  should  be  on  such  a 
scale  of  magnitude  and  variety  that  it  would  be 
a  constant  and  inexhaustible  source  of  enjoy- 
ment throughout  eternity.  God,  being  infinite, 
never  could  be  seen  or  understood  by  the  finite 
created  beings.  But  his  acts  of  creation  and 
the  results  thereof  would  be  the  avenues  through 
which  his  creatures  could  ever  learn  of  Him. 
Hence  we  are  led  to  expect  a  wonderful  crea- 
tion of  some  kind  besides  the  creation  of  an- 
gelic orders. 


66  THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

God  and  these  created  intelligences  alone  in- 
habited the  solitary,  boundless,  universal  void. 
The  creative  power  is  put  forth,  silently, 
without  pomp  or  display,  and  instantly  in  the 
void  depths  of  space  is  matter.  Laws  are  at 
the  same  time  established  over  this  substance, 
so  that  the  grandest,  most  complicated,  and 
most  beautiful  results  will  follow.  Cause  and 
effect  are  established,  and  it  is  so  ordered  that 
a  record  of  events  shall  be  made,  which  in  fut- 
ure ages  may  be  traced  back  by  beings  who 
may  thereafter  be  created;  the  very  act  of  trac- 
ing back  being  to  them  a  source  of  enjoyment. 

The  thrill  of  joy  and  awe  that  stirred  the 
hosts  of  angelic  beings  when  this  great  act,  the 
creation  of  matter,  took  place  may  be  faintly 
conceived,  but  can  not  be  described.  Some- 
thing from  nothing,  and  where  the  limits 
thereof? — all  controlled  by  laws  that  will  pro- 
duce ever  varying  phenomena  until  an  equili- 
brium is  reached.  Ere  the  first  emotions  of 
rapturous  pleasure  have  died  away  these  beings 
perceive  that  this  mass  of  matter  is  already  in 
motion. 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  67 

Attraction  is  acting  on  and  agitating  the 
mass  throughout.  In  obedience  to  law,  here 
and  there,  this  matter  collects  in  nuclei  or 
centres.  Spheres  begin  to  form,  and  moving 
on  the  resultant  lines  of  attractive  forces  are 
drawn  into  fixed  orbits.  Condensation  of  inat- 
ter  causes  light  and  heat  to  spring  out  of  the 
darkness.  Change  after  change,  physical  and 
chemical,  in  rapid  succession  occurs,  each  de- 
veloping new  wonders  to  those  beholding. 
Systems  and  universes  are  grouped  in  order. 
Resulting  forces  hold  planets,  comets,  meteors 
and  systems  in  trackless  curves.  Suns  are 
speeding  their  rays  of  light  through  measure- 
less space.  Suns,  planets,  and  satellites  are  re- 
volving each  in  its  proper  place,  and  their  num- 
ber countless. 

Great  as  the  intelligence  of  the  angelic  be- 
ings was,  they  must  have  paused  and  in  one 
voice  said,  Who  can  understand  God?  Who 
by  searching  can  find  him  out?  Marvelous  are 
Thy  works. 

Bear  in  mind  that  this  creation  of  matter  is 
for  the  purpose  of  producing  the  greatest  en- 
joyment. 


68  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

It  must  be  expected  that  the  movement  of 
each  atom,  and  each  aggregation  of  matter,  will 
be  in  accordance  with  this  object.  There  is  a 
best  in  each  act  and  movement.  That  which  is 
best  alone  satisfies  the  condition  of  the  PLAN 
OF  CREATION,  to-wit. :  the  greatest  enjoyment. 
Therefore,  the  movement  of  matter  in  atoms 
and  in  aggregates  and  all  phenomena  evolved 
therefrom,  and  all  laws  relating  thereto,  would 
be  such  that  no  other  movement,  phenomena, 
or  law  could  produce, greater  enjoyment  as  a 
whole. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  CREATION  OP  BEINGS  WHEREIN  LIFE  AND  MATTER 
ARE  UNITED.  THE  EXTREMES  OF  THE  CREATION  OF 
BEINGS  CAPABLE  OF  ENJOYMENT. 

Since  God  commenced  this  plan  of  causing 
the  greatest  enjoyment,  for  the  greatest  length 
of  time,  to  the  greatest  number,  he  has  presum- 
ably made  two  classes  of  creation,  thus  far 
mentioned. 

First. — Angelic  beings  of  different  orders,  and 
in  vast  numbers,  capable  of  the  greatest  enjoy- 
ment. 

Second. — Matter  subject  to  laws  that  will  pro- 
duce the  greatest  variety  of  phenomena,  and 
thereby  the  greatest  variety  of  enjoyment. 

Is  the  work  complete?  Can  infinite  wisdom 
and  omnipotence  do  no  more?  The  time  ar- 
rives, and  the  third  part  of  the  plan  is  initiated 
— the  union  of  spirit  or  life  with  matter.  Two 
objects  will  be  accomplished  by  this. 

4* 


70  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

New  beings  capable,  of  new  enjoyment  will 
be  brought  into  existence,  and  they  will  also  be 
objects  of  study  and  enjoyment  to  the  angelic 
beings  already  created.  Between  what  ex- 
tremes would  this  new  combination  or  creation 
take  place?  Evidently,  from  the  being  capable 
of  a  single  pleasant  sensation,  up  to  the  being 
capable  of  the  greatest  enjoyment — that  is,  of 
beings  where  spirit  or  life  was  united  with  mat- 
ter. 

We  are  now  able  to  perceive  the  extremes  of 
God's  creation  of  beings  capable  of  enjoyment— 
from  life  connected  with  matter,  and  capable  of 
;i  single  pleasant  sensation,  having  but  the  one 
laculty  of  feeling,  up  through  successive  higher 
orders,  having  more  numerous  faculties  of  pleas- 
ure, up  through  man  to  the  highest  archangel— 
from   the  protozoa  through   the   sponges,  mol- 
lusks,  radiates,  and  vertebrates  to  man,  and  on 
from  man  to  the  highest  order  of  beings. 

Let  all  below  angels  or  spirits  be  called  an- 
imals, from  man  to  protozoa. 

The  limit  of  beings  capable  of  enjoyment  is, 
therefore,  from  the  protozoa  or  sensitive  plant 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  71 

to  the  highest  created  beings.  The  sources  of 
enjoyment  to  these  beings  are  the  beings  them- 
selves ;  matter  and  its  laws,  and  the  union  of 
spirit  or  life  with  matter. 

Following  this  to  complete  the  list  is  life, 
without  even  sensation,  connected  with  matter, 
called  vegetable  life.  And  beyond  this  vege- 
table life,  shadowing  off  even  into  almost  life, 
is  crystallization. 

Without  going  into  a  wearisome  detail  of  a 
priori  theorizing  and  specification  of  correspond- 
ing facts,  the  reader's  attention  is  called  to  the 
remarkable  gradation  in  capacity  for  enjoyment, 
both  as  to  number  of  faculties  and  their  strength, 
existing  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  of  the 
things  created.  The  extremes  are  from  the 
minutest  insect,  enjoying  a  single  sensation  of 
pleasure  for  a  moment,  to  the  greatest  created 
intelligence,  enjoying  the  pleasure  of  an  infinite 
universe  for  eternity. 

The  vegetable  kingdom  commences  merely 
with  life  or  vitality  and  matter  without  sensa- 
tion, as  trees  and  grasses.  As  the  animal  king- 
dom is  approached,  first  are  met  the  sensitive 


72  THE    PLAN    OF   CREATION. 

plants  ;  then  sponges  and  protozoa,  showing 
slight  voluntary  motions  and  faint  signs  of  sen- 
sation ;  next  the  lowest  order  of  mollusks,  with 
voluntary  motion  and  sensation.  Progressing 
upward  in  the  scale  we  arrive  at  the  radiata, 
an  order  endowed  with  full  voluntary  motion, 
and  with  organs  of  sensation  well  developed. 
Above  these  the  articulata  and  vertebrata,  hav- 
ing the  utmost  freedom  of  motion,  with  the 
most  perfect  organs  of  sensation.  As  the  high- 
er classes  of  vertebrata  are  examined,  we  find 
the  faculties  for  enjoyment  of  a  higher  and 
more  active  order.  The  increase  in  both  re- 
spects is  manifest  in  the  mammalia,  where  ris- 
ing in  this  scale  are  the  monkey  and  the  ape 
families. 

Finally,  man  comes  into  existence  having  the 
greatest  number  of  faculties  in  the  most  active 
and  perfect  condition.  In  the  human  family 
variation  occurs.  No  two  are  alike,  and  prob- 
ably there  never  has  been  a  duplicate  man,  one 
who  was  a  fac  simile  of  another,  in  any  age  of 
the  world. 


CHAPTER  IX, 

THE  LOWER  ORDERS  OF  ANIMALS  ARE  MORTAL.  WHY 
THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM  WOULD  BE  CREATED  ;  AND 
THE  ORDER  IN  WHICH  THE  ANIMALS  WOULD  BE  CRE- 
ATED. 

It  has  already  been  shown  that  the  PLAN  OF 
CREATION  involved  the  existence  of  a  class  of 
beings  wherein  matter  and  life  were  united — 
from  the  lowest  forms  of  organized  life  up  to 
man,  the  highest.  In  a  former  chapter  it  was 
shown  that  the  angelic  beings  created  for  eter- 
nal enjoyment  would  be  immortal.  How  would 
it  be  with  the  lower  orders  of  organized  life? 
Are  they  immortal — the  oyster  as  well  as  man? 

It  was  shown  in  Chapter  YI  that  there  was  a 
law  through  which  enjoyment  would  be  attained. 
It  would  be  by  establishing  a  never-failing  con- 
nection between  cause  and  effect,  and  by  estab- 
lishing an  infinite  series  of  causes,  which  would 
produce  happiness,  provided  the  individual 


74  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

placed  himself  in  proper  relation  to  the  causes. 
In  other  words,  if  the  being  lived  according  to 
this  law  it  would  have  enjoyment.  But  this  re- 
quires intelligence  to  know  what  that  law  is. 
And  if  a  being  is  created  so  low  in  the  order 
of  existence  that  it  has  not  this  intelligence,  it 
would  be  as  liable  to  violate  the  law  as  to  obey 
it.  Hence,  when  an  order  is  reached,  where  the 
beings  would  thus,  by  violating  the  law,  cause 
to  themselves  more  suffering  than  enjoyment, 
they  would  not  be  immortal. 

Again,  the  avenues  of  enjoyment  for  the  an- 
imal kingdom  are  two-fold: 

First. — Through  the  mental  faculties. 

Second. — Through  the  organs  of  the  body. 

The  highest  order — man — has  both  •  the  low- 
est order  probably  has  only  the  latter.  And  if 
a  change  of  surrounding  conditions  should  de- 
stroy these  material  bodies,  as  means  of  enjoy- 
ment, then  the  being,  not  having  any  other 
organs  of  enjoyment,  would  presumably  cease 
to  exist. 

The  laws  governing  matter  are  such  that  at 
certain  stages  the  changes  through  which  it 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  75 


goes  would  destroy  these  living  organized 
bodies.  Such  was  the  case  in  the  past  when 
the  earth  was  in  a  molten  condition.  Living 
organism  could  not  then  exist.  At  a  later 
time,  during  the  glacial  period,  many  forms  of 
life  could  not  endure  the  cold,  and  perished 
from  the  earth.  In  the  ages  of  the  future  the 
earth  may  lose  its  heat  by  radiation  and  become 
a  rigid  frozen  globe,  incapable  of  sustaining  an- 
imal life.  Our  solar  system  moving  in  an 
elliptical  orbit  around  some  great  central  sun 
or  point  may  at  its  perihelion  or  aphelion  have 
extremes  of  heat  and  cold  sufficient  to  destroy 
present  forms  of  life.  Or,  moving  in  this  great 
orbit,  may  in  its  course  approach  other  suns  or 
recede  from  them,  causing  the  same  results  as 
above  indicated.  All  these,  which  are  possible, 
would  totally  destroy  the  physical  organism, 
thus  leaving  no  source  of  enjoyment  to  that 
class  of  beings  whose  enjoyment  was  through 
the  organs  only. 

Therefore,  somewhere  between  man  and  the 
lowest  order  of  the  animal  kingdom  would  be 
the  dividing  line  between  mortal  and  immortal 


76  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

beings.  It  is  not  necessary  to  show  where  that 
dividing  line  is  That  it  exists  somewhere  be- 
tween man  and  the  protozoa  is  very  probable. 

But  why  create  any  except  immortal  beings? 
For  this  reason:  Suppose  that  none  were  cre- 
ated but  the  immortal.  Then  there  would  be 
uncreated  this  lower  order.  The  plan  of  the 
greatest  enjoyment  to  the  greatest  number  re- 
quires that  all  should  be  created  and  have  their 
day  of  enjoyment,  and  be  sources  of  enjoyment 
to  the  higher  beings.  The  whole  creation  of 
God  is  living  out,  each  its  life  of  enjoyment, 
and  in  its  mechanism  and  life  furnishes  enjoy- 
ment to  the  others. 

With  this  in  view,  we  turn  to  consider  the 
order  in  which  the  animal  and  vegetable  king- 
dom would  be  created.  Angelic  beings  having 
been  created,  and  matter  having  been  created, 
subject  to  laws,  and  those  laws  having  operated 
to  form  suns  and  worlds,  and  these  worlds  hav- 
ing cooled  off  to  a  proper  temperature,  there 
was  created  vegetable  life.  At  first  such  as 
would  exist  in  the  highest  heat.  Animal  life, 
protozoa,  or  whatever  it  may  be,  having  some 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  77 

enjoyment,  and  being  a  source  of  enjoyment  to 
the  angelic  orders,  would  appear  as  soon  as  such 
existence  were  possible.  The  changing  or  cool- 
ing of  the  earth  gave  rise  to  conditions  for  other 
higher  vegetable  and  animal  life  ;  and  they  were 
created  different  from  the  former  ones.  So, 
age  after  age,  new  and  higher  forms  of  life  oc- 
curred, having  more  organs  of  enjoyment,  and 
being  objects  of  enjoyment  to  the  intelligent 
beings.  The  changing  conditions  of  the  earth's 
temperature,  and  the  purification  of  the  air, 
with  other  changes,  destroyed  one  order  and 
called  out  by  creative  power  a  new  one,  adapted 
to  the  new  conditions.  As  each  disappeared  it 
left  a  record  in  Earth's  strata  for  future  use. 

Finally,  in  the  fullness  of  time,  a  being  was 
created  with  a  capacity  for  enjoyment  that 
would  ever  increase.  To  him  were  given  such 
faculties  of  mind,  that  he  could  understand  the 
law  of  cause  and  effect  by  which  enjoyment 
would  be  attained.  A  being  with  memory, 
whereby  knowledge  once  acquired  could  be  for- 
ever retained.  He  could  by  reason,  and  by  his 
other  faculties,  inquire  into  the  laws  and  ob- 


78  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

jects  of  nature  beyond  the  immediate  reach  of 
his  material  organs.  This  being  was  man.  He, 
having  such  mental  faculties  as  could  exist  and 
enjoy  without  being  connected  with  matter,  was 
created  so  that  his  soul  or  mind  would  exist 
forever. 

We  have  now  hastily  run  over  the  Plan  of 
Creation,  showing  some  of  the  leading  facts 
which  would  naturally  result  from  the  act  of 
causing  the  greatest  enjoyment,  for  the  greatest 
length  of  time,  to  the  greatest  number,  with  the 
least  suffering  to  the  fewest  individuals.  A  re- 
capitulation shows — 

First. — The  creation  of  different  orders  of 
angelic  beings  in  vast  numbers,  capable  of  the 
greatest  enjoyments,  as  individuals,  for  the 
greatest  length  of  time. 

Second. — The  creation  of  external  sources  of 
enjoyment,  to-wit.  :  Matter  on  such  a  grand 
scale  that,  subject  to  laws  producing  constant- 
ly changing  results,  it  would  for  eternity  be  a 
new  and  ever  varying  source  of  instruction  and 
pleasure. 

Third. — The  further  creation,  or  union,  of  life 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  79 

with  matter  producing  new  sources  of  enjoy- 
ment, and  new  beings  capable  of  enjoying. 

Fourth. — The  establishing  of  an  invariable  con- 
nection between  cause  and  effect,  so  that  the 
same  cause  of  enjoyment  would  always  produce 
the  same  effect — this  law  also  being  called  the 
law  by  which  enjoyment  is  to  be  attained. 

Fifth. — God  originally  being  the  only  one 
inhabiting  eternity,  was  and  is  the  cause  of 
all  enjoyment.  Each  and  all  acts  of  creation, 
and  all  laws  established,  are  only  the  manifes- 
tations of  His  plan. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE    CHRONOLOGICAL    ORDER    OF    CREATION. 

In  order  to  produce  the  greatest  enjoyment,  it 
was  necessary  to  create  a  being  capable  of  the 
greatest  or  most  intense  enjoyment  in  every 
respect.  This  could  not  be  done  unless  volun- 
tary action,  or  freedom  of  the  will,  was  allowed. 

Take  away  freedom  of  the  will,  or  voluntary 
action,  and  enjoyment  results  only  as  the  being 
is  acted  upon.  Like  a  harp,  it  may  have  great 
latent  powers,  but  it  requires  an  external  cause 
constantly  operating  upon  it.  When  that  cause 
ceases,  all  is  silent.  Give  freedom  of  the  will, 
or  voluntary  action,  to  a  being  and  it  at  once 
has  a  new  pleasure.  It  pushes  out  in  all  direc- 
tions with  its  faculties,  and  by  that  act  has  en- 
joyment from  a  source  that  otherwise  would 
not  exist. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  manifestation  of 
God  through  his  various  acts  of  creation,  would 


THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION.  81 

be  the  sources,  or  external  causes,  of  enjoy- 
ment; that  the  law  of  enjoyment,  or  the  law  by 
which  enjoyment  is  attained,  is  based  on  the 
connection  between  cause  and  effect,  so  that 
the  beings  may  follow  out  and  investigate  these 
causes.  Freedom  of  the  will  implies  the  power 
of  a  being  to  refuse  or  neglect  to  select  such 
causes,  and  such  a  course  as  would  produce  en- 
joyment. Therefore,  to  urge  the  being  on  in 
the  proper  course,  and  to  prevent  it  entering 
upon  a  course  that  would  fail  to  produce  enjoy- 
ment, it  would  be  necessary,  and  an  act  of 
benevolence,  to  hedge  up  the  wrong  course  with 
that  which  would  produce  pain. 

And  again,  to  prevent  these  beings  from 
ignorantly  doing  the  wrong,  it  would  be  neces- 
sary for  the  first  beings  to  be  created  with  suf- 
ficient knowledge  of  these  causes  to  enable  them 
to  make  proper  selections. 

If  matter  were  created  first,  no  beings  would 
have  had  the  pleasure  of  beholding  that  act, 
and  the  early  phenomena  attending  it. 

If  beings  with  little  or  no  intelligence  had 
been  first  created,  or  created  with  limited  and 


82  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

local  faculties  for  observation,  they  would  not 
comprehend  or  fully  enjoy  the  phenomena  of 
creation.  Therefore,  that  the  greatest  enjoy- 
ment might  arise  on  the  whole,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  create  first,  beings  with  great  capac- 
ity and  with  high  intelligence,  so  that  they 
might  have  the  enjoyment  resulting,  not  only 
from  the  first  act  of  creation,  but  from  all  phe- 
nomena resulting  therefrom. 

We  thus  arrive  by  another  line  of  argument 
at  the  same  conclusion,  that  the  highest  order 
of  intelligent  beings  would  be  first  created. 
This  would  be  filled  out  with  individuals  of  the 
highest  intelligence.  After  that  would  follow 
the  creation  of  each  lower  order,  until  the  low- 
est order  was  created  and  filled  with  individuals. 
There  would  thus  be  prepared  all  the  angelic 
hosts  ready  for,  and  capable  of,  beholding  and 
enjoying  the  creation  of  matter  and  life  and  all 
the  phenomena  evolved  therefrom.  The  lower 
beings  could  be  taught  by  the  higher,  thus  giv- 
ing this  pleasure,  to  the  one  to  impart  knowl- 
edge, to  the  other  to  receive  it. 

We  must  bear  in  mind,  that  every  source  of 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  83 

enjoyment,  however  small,  must  be  caused  in 
order  to  produce  the  greatest  enjoyment. 

These  spiritual  beings  beheld  matter  spring 
into  existence,  and  saw  the  laws  operate  there- 
on ;  and  when  the  worlds,  under  those  laws, 
were  formed  and  cooled  sufficiently,  so  that  the 
heat  would  not  destroy  life,  there  would  be 
created  whatever  beings  could  exist.  First 
protozoa,  millions  of  which  animated  atoms 
would  be  called  into  existence  for  their  moiety 
of  enjoyment  and  for  the  enjoyment  they  would 
furnish  the  intelligent  beings,  who  witnessed 
their  creation  and  duration;  but  as  the  condi- 
tion of  the  earth  changed,  new  and  more  com- 
plicated beings  could  live,  then  the  creative 
power  called  them  into  existence. 

It  matters  not,  whether  the  -creative  power 
was  called  forth  at  each  successive  appearance 
of  life,  or  whether  that  power  established  in  the 
beginning  a  law  of  life,  so  adjusted  that  when- 
ever the  proper  moment  arrived  life  emerged  or 
evolved  apparently  from  the  surroundings.  It 
matters  not  in  the  investigation  whether  each 
child  born  is  a  new  creation  of  life,  or  whether 


84  THE    PLAN    OF   CREATION. 

the  circumstances  combined  produce  life.  It 
all  originates  in  the  creative  power  of  the  great 
First  Cause,  who  makes  each  special  creation,  or 
who  established  in  the  beginning  the  law  by 
which  each  life  appears  at  the  proper  time. 

But  as  these  first  temporary  beings  had  their 
individual  enjoyment  and  were  sources  of  en- 
joyment to  the  beings  wrho  contemplated  them 
while  existing,  so  their  remains  are  preserved 
as  fossils  for  the  contemplation  and  enjoyment 
of  that  future  race  of  beings,  man.  In  the 
rocks  and  geological  formations  of  the  earth 
this  benevolent  Being  fixes  an  enduring  record. 
Nothing  lost — all  contributing  to  the  greatest 
enjoyment  of  the  greatest  number.  Time 
rolls  on  and  the  earth  is  ready  for  man. 
The  creative  .power  calls  him  into  existence, 
having  preserved  in  the  laws  governing  matter, 
and  in  the  earth's  formations,  a  record  of  events 
that  had  preceded  him  for  his  investigation  and 
enjoyment. 

While,  therefore,  the  creation  of  spiritual  be- 
ings would  evidently  be  from  the  highest  to 
the  lowest,  the  creation  of  the  animal  kingdom 
would  be  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest. 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  85 

This  plan  of  creation  contemplates  future 
changes  in  the  forms  of  matter  through  the 
eternity  to  come.  For  if  matter  should  under- 
go no  more  changes  in  the  aggregate,  all  that 
they  now  display  would  in  time  be  completely 
known  to  these  beings.  Thereafter  nothing 
more  could  be  learned. 

As  change  in  matter  is  therefore  an  inevitable 
result  of  the  present  laws,  these  beings  created 
and  connected  with  material  bodies  would  in 
the  great  change  of  matter,  under  the  general 
laws,  have  their  material  bodies  changed  or  de- 
stroyed. Hence  this  connection  of  life  and 
matter  must  be  temporary. 

Let  the  reader  cast  his  mind's  eye  over  this 
plan  of  creation;  beings  to  be  created,  immor- 
tal with  faculties  intellectual  and  moral,  ever 
growing,  expanding,  and  increasing;  the  stage 
of  development  never  to  be  reached,  where  it 
will  be  said  nothing  more  can  occur  to  produce 
enjoyment.  And  to  furnish  an  inexhaustible 
source  of  enjoyment,  there  is  created  matter 
throughout  the  boundless  depths  of  space,  sub- 
ject to  laws  which  will  constantly  evolve  new 


86  THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

changes,  and  produce  new  results.  From  this, 
and  from  new  creations  in  the  endless  ages  of 
eternity,  there  will  be  evolved  new  objects  for 
investigation  by  these  beings,  for  whose  enjoy- 
ment they  were  or  shall  be  created.  Running 
down  the  scale,  we  find  that  every  order  of  be- 
ings presumably  would  be  created,  from  that 
capable  of  the  highest  enjoyment  for  eternity, 
down  to  the  lowest  having  but  a  single  sensation 
of  pleasure. 

The  plan  of  creation,  causing  the  greatest 
enjoyment  to  the  greatest  number  for  the  great- 
est length  of  time,  can  embrace  no  less  than  the 
foregoing.  How  much  more  it  may  embrace 
may  not  now  be  known  to  man  while  in  the 
body. 

In  the  foregoing  chapters  we  haye  necessarily 
gone  much  into  the  domain  of  speculation,  and 
have  tried  to  show  what  would,  according  to 
reason,  result  from  a  certain  given  or  assumed 
proposition,  to-wit. :  "  That  God  is  a  being  of 
perfect  benevolence." 

So  far  our  investigation  has  been  for  the  pur- 
pose of  ascertaining  as  nearly  as  possible  the 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  87 

plan  as  a  whole  and  its  extremes  in  general 
terms.  Therefrom  we  may  determine  the  rela- 
tive position  of  man  in  this  great  plan.  With 
this  knowledge  before  us  we  may  proceed  to 
consider  the  enigma  of  man's  existence,  his 
destiny,  and  the  circumstances  that  surround 
him. 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE   ORDER  OF  MAN  AND  ITS  SOURCES   OF   ENJOYMENT. 

From  the  general  view  taken  of  the  plan  of 
creation  it  is  evident  that  the  great  final  object 
to  be  accomplished  was  the  greatest  enjoyment, 
for  the  greatest  length  of  time,  to  the  greatest 
number,  with  the  least  suffering  to  the  fewest 
individuals. 

The  word  enjoyment  instead  of  the  word 
happiness  has  been  used,  so  that  it  would  in- 
clude the  lowest  degree  of  pleasure  possible  to 
the  lowest  animals. 

Man,  in  the  plan  of  creation,  is  apparently 
below  the  orders  of  spiritual  beings,  and  is  the 
highest  of  the  orders  of  beings  wherein  spirit 
or  life  and  matter  are  united.  His  mind  or 
spirit  is  evidently  endowed  with  the  prominent 
characteristics  of  angelic  beings — that  is,  with 
an  ever  increasing  capacity  to  acquire  knowl- 
edge, intellectual  and  moral ;  also  having  an 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  89 

ever  increasing  capacity  for  enjoyment.  As 
man  is  thus  constituted,  and  mentally  fitted  for 
never-ending  happiness,  it  follows  from  the 
general  design  that  he  is  to  exist  forever,  and  is 
immortal  so  far  as  his  spiritual  part  is  concerned. 

Man  is  probably  the  last  and  lowest  order  of 
beings  endowed  with  immortality.  We  have 
shown  that  there  was  presumably  first  created 
the  highest  order  of  spiritual  beings,  then  an 
order  a  little  lower,  and  thus  in  succession  un- 
til an  order  would  be  reached  so  low  in  the 
scale  of  beings  that  it  would  be  created  without 
any  knowledge  at  the  time  of  its  creation,  so 
that  the  beings  in  it  could  progress  through  all 
avenues  of  enjoyment.  This  being,  so  far  as 
known,  is  man  ;  for  the  members  of  the  hu- 
man family  are  born  without  any  knowledge 
whatever.  When  the  mind  or  soul  of  a  babe  is 
given  to  the  embryo  there  is  no  knowledge 
given  with  it.  There  exists  the  dormant  capac- 
ity, the  soul  faculties,  and  nothing  more. 

Whether  the  soul  is  created  at  any  particular 
moment,  or  gradually  springs  into  being  as  the 
embryo  develops,  is  not  material.  But  when 


90  THE    PLAN    OP    CREATION. 

the  babe  is  born  it  evidently  knows  nothing. 
Therefore,  in  the  downward  order  of  beings, 
man  is  a  little  lower  than  the  angels.  A  lower 
order  of  beings  having  all  the  faculties,  intel- 
lectual and  moral,  that  man  and  the  spiritual 
beings  have,  could  not  be  created.  From  the 
next  order  of  beings,  if  a  lower  were  created, 
there  would  have  to  be  omitted  some  of  the 
faculties  of  these  higher  orders  ;  otherwise  it 
would  not  be  lower,  and  some  of  the  higher  or- 
ders would  have  to  be  duplicated. 

Now,  consider  the  highest  order  of  animals 
next  below  man,  the  ape.  Although  it  may  be 
difficult  to  say  exactly  what  and  how  much  is 
omitted  from  the  mental  element  of  the  ape, 
yet  it  is  evident  that  something  is  lacking.  The 
moral  faculties  seern  to  be  gone  entirely,  and 
the  religious  faculties  seem  to  be  xvariting.  The 
greater  part  of  their  faculties  at  least  are  but  a 
glimmer  of  man's.  Their  enjoyment  is  almost 
exclusively  through  the  physical  organs,  as  eat- 
ing and  sleeping.  They  do  riot  seem  to  possess 
that  capacity  for  enjoyment  which  increases  the 
longer  they  live.  Their  capacity  for  enjoyment 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  91 

evidently  reaches  very  soon  a  limit  beyond 
which  it  does  not  pass.  To  separate  such  a 
mind  from  the  body  would  apparently  cut  off 
the  avenues  of  enjoyment.  Hence,  such  beings 
would  not  be  created  immortal.  Annihilation 
would  come  upon  the  vital  principle  or  soul  of 
such  a  being.  If  any  doubt  should  exist  as  to 
the  highest  orders  of  animals,  none  can  reason- 
ably exist  as  to  the  lowest. 

All  of  these  orders  of  animals  below  man 
were  created  in  accordance  with  the  great  final 
object — the  greatest  enjoyment  to  the  greatest 
number,  with  their  day  for  enjoyment.  They 
accomplish  another  important  object.  Their 
structures,  actions,  and  lives  are  objects  of  en- 
joyment to  the  higher  order  of  beings,  to  those 
which  are  immortal,  especially  to  man. 

We  must  here  remember,  that  the  mind  re- 
ceives enjoyment  by  the  action  of  its  faculties. 
When  the  faculties  are  absolutely  quiet,  as  in 
sleep,  there  is  no  enjoyment.  When  awake  all, 
or  a  part,  of  the  faculties  are  constantly  acting. 
The  greatest  enjoyment  is  when  the  faculties 
are  all  engaged  and  acting  in  pursuit  of  enjoy- 


92  THE   PLAN   OF    CREATION. 

able  subjects.  This  being  the  case,  the  lower 
orders  of  animals  are  thus  created  as  sources  of 
enjoyment,  especially  to  man  while  on  this 
earth.  Not  only  as  objects  of  mental  consider- 
ation do  they  furnish  happiness  to  man,  but 
in  order  to  accomplish  the  greatest  possible  re- 
sults, these  animals  also  furnish  enjoyment  by 
their  bodies  becoming  pleasant  food,  arid  all 
their  parts  being  capable  of  utilization,  so  as  to 
add  to  man's  comfort  and  well  being. 

The  vegetable  kingdom  in  its  structure, 
growth,  and  decay  furnishes  pleasing  objects  of 
study  to  man,  and  calls  out,  and  into  exercise, 
his  faculties  of  mind.  The  mineral  kingdom,  in 
its  chemistry  and  crystallization,  opens  up  fields 
of  beauty  and  wonder.  The  animal  and  vege- 
table kingdoms,  although  appearing  on  the 
earth  nges  before  man,  left  their  record  in  the 
rocks  to  be  the  subject  of  man's  study  and  in- 
struction. And  when  the  mind  of  man  has 
learned  all  that  can  be  learned  from  the  ani- 
mal, vegetable,  and  mineral  kingdoms  on  earth 
there  is  still  left  for  his  investigation,  during 

O  7  O 

the  coining  ages  of  eternity,  the  vast  number 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  93 

of  worlds,  and  matter,  throughout  space,  and 
also  all  the  phenomena  that  may  be  evolved 
therefrom.  Attraction  will  eventually  draw  to- 
gether planets  and  suns  and  systems,  rolling  up 
as  a  parchment  or  scroll,  that  which  we  now  call 
the  heavens,  and  will  evolve  therefrom  new 
worlds  and  suns  and  heavens.  When  these, 
and  all  the  accompanying  phenomena,  have 
been  exhausted  as  sources  of  enjoyment,  new 
creations  and  new  evolutions  shall  come  forth 
in  splendor  responsive  to  creative  will.  Thus 
God's  great  panorama  of  the  universes  will  go 
on  through  infinite  space  and  time.  Eternity, 
therefore,  and  the  immortal  life  of  man,  will 
not  behold  the  close  of  the  manifestation  of 
God  through  His  works. 

Another  fact  becomes  evident  in  this  con- 
nection ;  God  is  the  source  of  all  enjoyment. 
All  things  created  by  Him  are  only  manifesta- 
tions of  His  will,  or  of  the  ideas  that  pre-existed 
in  His  mind.  He  is  infinite,  and  of  course  no 
finite  being  could  comprehend  Him,  or  compre- 
hend His  thoughts,  all  at  once.  It  is  a  contra- 
diction in  terms  to  say  that  the  infinite  can  be 


5* 


•94  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

put  into  the  finite,  or  be  grasped  by  the  finite. 
God  might  communicate  his  thoughts  to  his 
creatures  by  a  direct  act,  in  which  case  they 
would  be  passive  recipients  of  them.  They 
would  receive  it  as  water  is  poured  into  a  pitch- 
er, without  volition  on  their  part.  But  this 
would  deprive  them  of  the  pleasure  of  the 
effort  of  acquiring  knowledge,  or  of  the  ex- 
ercise of  their  faculties.  This  would  not  give 
the  greatest  enjoyment.  The  only  other  plan 
to  communicate  these  ideas  of  God  would  be 
for  Him  to  formulate  them  in  external  signs, 
which  could  be  studied  by  these  beings.  This 
He  has  done.  The  things  created  and  evolved 
therefrom  are  only  so  many  chapters  and  words 
in  the  great  book  of  God,  called  by  some  "the 
book  of  nature."  The  heavens  and  earth  and  all 
therein  are  only  his  handwriting  for  his  crea- 
tures to  read,  written  in  the  most  brilliant,  in- 
structive, and  fascinating  characters.  Every 
shining  sun  and  star  in  His  creation  is  but  a 
glowing  letter  of  His  alphabet,  more  easily  read 
than  the  ancient  hieroglyphics  of  man,  and  placed 
on  high  where  every  being  may  behold  them. 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  95 

Nothing  is  lost  from  beginning  to  end.  The 
first  ray  of  light  that  shot  out  from  the  original 
darkness  is  now  traveling  somewhere  in  space, 
and  may  be  traveling  on  a  never-ending  journey. 
So  the  first  heat  and  the  first  vibration  of  sound 
are  still  in  existence  far  out  in  space.  And  fol- 
lowing after  them  are  the  rays  of  heat  and  light 
and  vibrations  of  sound  of  all  that  has  occurred 
since  the  first  act  of  creation.  Some  time  you 
may  take  a  stand  in  space,  beyond  the  first  ray 
of  light,  and  behold  the  original  creation  and 
all  the  succeeding  phenomena,  down  to  the 
present,  pass  by  in  panorama.  Who  for  a  mo- 
ment could  doubt  that  this  plan  was  adapted 
to  cause  the  greatest  enjoyment,  to  the  greatest 
number,  for  the  greatest  length  of  time  ? 

It  appears  then,  by  process  of  reasoning,  that 
man  in  the  plan  of  creation  is  of  that  order  of 
immortal  beings  that  would  be  created  not  pos- 
sessed of  any  knowledge  at  the  time  of  his  cre- 
ation, but  having  all  the  faculties  for  acquiring 
knowledge.  Man,  therefore,  comes  into  exist- 
ence helpless  and  utterly  ignorant.  As  a  babe 
he  enters  into  this  world  with  a  rnind  that  is 


96  THE    PLAN    OF   CREATION. 

blank.  There  exists  the  capacity,  the  possi- 
bility, but  that  is  all.  He  knows  nothing.  A 
being  lower  in  the  scale  of  existence  could  not 
be  created  unless  some  of  the  faculties  were 
omitted.  All  the  higher  orders  presumably  had 
been  created  ;  all  the  lower  orders  had  been 
created,  from  which  some  faculties  had  been 
omitted?  from  protozoa  to  apes.  The  scale  of 
beings  had  not  been  completed.  The  great 
final  object  was  not  yet  accomplished,  to-wit. : 
the  greatest  enjoyment  to  the  greatest  number.  The 
number  was  not  yet  completed,  and  to  fill  out 
that  number  man  was  created.  He  was  created 
at  the  bottom  of  the  scale  of  knowledge  and  the 
lowest  of  immortal  beings.  To  him  was  given 
the  enjoyment  of  acquiring  all  knowledge. 
Starting  in  ignorance,  there  is  opened  up  before 
him  for  his  future  enjoyment,  by  means  of  in- 
vestigation, all  that  God  created.  He  was  cre- 
ated like,  or  in  the  image,  or  after  the  same 
pattern  that,  the  angelic  beings  were,  with  a  ca- 
pacity that  would  increase  throughout  eternity. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  FIRST  MAN. 

To  start  this  race  of  beings  was  the  problem. 
If  the  first  man  was  created  an  infant  he  would 
perish.  Therefore,  the  first  pair  must  be  created 
in  physical  maturity. 

When  the  first  man  was  created,  and  aroused 
to  consciousness,  and  beheld  the  surroundings, 
perception  communicated  with  the  mind  and  set 
the  mental  faculties  in  motion.  Then  was 
awakened  the  first  thrill  of  enjoyment,  produced 
by  beholding  the  beauty  of  the  bright  sunlight, 
the  beautiful  landscape  and  vegetation.  And 
as  the  successive  emotions  pass  through  his 
mind,  the  singing  of  birds  and  the  sighing  of 
the  wind  break  in  upon  him,  producing  new 
sensations  of  pleasure.  The  lungs  expand,  and 
the  fresh  invigorating  air  is  inhaled,  again  giv- 
ing him  new  enjoyment.  Thus  in  a  few  mo- 
ments sight,  hearing,  smelling,  and  feeling  are 
aroused  and  in  operation. 


98  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

It  was  a  new  and  strange  world  to  the  first 
man.  Totally  ignorant  he  was  of  all  around 
him.  He  was  as  liable  to  pick  up  a  stone  or 
stick  of  wood  and  try  to  eat  it  as  anything  else. 
If  he  walked,  he  was  in  danger  of  walking  into 
a  river,  or  into  the  ocean,  or  over  a  precipice, 
and  thus  terminating  his  existence.  By  experi- 
ence he  knew  nothing.  With  no  one  to  tell 
him  what  to  do  he  must  perish.  Hunger  would 
soon  come  upon  him,  and  after  a  few  vain  at- 
tempts to  eat  the  objects  that  were  around  him, 
he  would  give  up  in  despair  and  soon  starve  to 
death,  or  die  of  thirst. 

Taking  into  consideration  the  first  man's  in- 
experience and  ignorance,  and  the  benevolence 
of  God,  and  that  man  was  created  for  enjoy- 
ment, we  would  infer  that  God  would  put  this 
first  man  in  a  place  where  he  could  get  abun- 
dance to  eat;  that  God  would  inform  him  what 
to  eat,  and  what  not  to  eat,  also  would  teach 
him  how  to  cultivate  the  fruits,  and  inform  him 
by  inspiration,  or  by  words,  that  it  was  the 
destiny  of  the  race,  as  it  multiplied,  to  learn  to 
support  life  by  this  process  of  cultivating  the 
fruits  of  the  earth. 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  99 

God  would  communicate  to  him  such  informa- 
tion as  was  necessary  to  keep  him  from  injury 
and  destruction  from  day  to  day.  From  expe- 
rience the  man  would  be  rapidly  accumulating 
knowledge,  and  every  succeeding  dajr  would  re- 
quire less  and  less  to  be  revealed  to  him. 

The  information  referred  to  thus  far  relates 
only  to  the  man's  physical  wants.  This  physical 
nature  is  only  a  part.  His  intellectual  and 
moral  nature,  or  his  soul,  is  the  same  in  all  its 
faculties  and  capacities  as  the  angelic  beings 
that  have  been  created.  It  has  the  same  des- 
tiny, the  same  immortality.  It  must  grow  ac- 
cording to  the  same  law. 

The  same  exterior  universe  is  for  his  bene- 
fit. It  is  the  great  book  out  of  which  he  shall 
learn  what  God  is.  With  man  the  same  cause 
will  produce  the  same  effect.  Happiness  or  en- 
joyment must  by  him  be  attained  in  the  same 
way,  and  by  the  same  law,  that  the  higher  be- 
ings attain  it.  If  he  neglect  or  disobey  that 
law  he  will  not  attain  enjoyment.  Nay  more, 
as  already  shown,  if  he  fail  to  comply  with  that 
law  he  will  have  actual  suffering.  He  belongs 


100  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

to  the  same  general  order  as  the  immortal  an- 
gelic beings  ;  only  as  all  the  higher  orders  were 
already  filled  out,  he  comes  in  as  the  lowest  in 
the  scale. 

How  shall  this  first  man  comply  with  this 
law?  To  him  it  is  unknown.  How  shall  he 
find  out  this  law  governing  his  intellectual, 
moral,  and  physical  nature?  If  he  does  not 
know  it  he  can  not  obey,  and  if  he  does  not 
obey  it  he  will  suffer  as  certainly  under,  and  as 
a  natural  consequence  of  it,  as  that  cause  pro- 
duces effect.  How  shall  he  know  or  obey  this 
unknown  law  that  overshadows  him  with  dan- 
ger? 

The  law  in  its  perfection,  both  for  his  imme- 
diate action  and  for  his  action  as  long  as  he 
shall  exist,  for  eternity,  is  known  to  God,  who 
created  him.  It  is  partly  known  also  to  the  an- 
gelic or  spiritual  beings.  They,  however,  know 
nothing  by  experience  of  those  laws  that  govern 
him  as  soul  and  matter  united. 

It  must  be  evident  that  God  would  and  must 
communicate  to  man,  day  by  day,  as  his  intel- 
lect expanded,  sufficient  knowledge  of  this  law 


THE    PLAN    OF    CURIO'S* .  101 

of  enjoyment  to  enable  him  to  act  according 
to  it. 

God,  who  created  him  for  enjoyment  and  in 
order  to  fill  out  the  scale  of  beings,  would  be- 
come his  instructor.  One  of  the  first  things, 
therefore,  for  man  to  learn  was  implicit  obedience. 
He  must  learn  to  obey  the  law  as  it  was  reveal- 
ed to  him,  and  because  God  revealed  it.  As  he 
acquired  more  and  more  knowledge,  he  would 
learn  from  experience  that  the  law  was  the  true 
one,  and  the  only  one  that  led  to  enjoyment. 

Not  only  was  it  necessary  to  reveal  to  this 
man  the  law  by  which  enjoyment  would  be  at- 
tained, and  what  acts  would  produce  enjoy- 
ment, but  it  was  as  necessary  to  reveal  to  him 
what  results,  or  pain,  flowed  from  neglecting, 
disregarding,  or  transgressing  this  law. 

Exercising  the  intellect  would  be  the  means 
of  developing  it,  and  of  producing  intellectual 
enjoyment.  Bear  in  mind  that  from  the  simple 
primary  sources  of  enjoyment,  man  was  to  pro- 
gress higher  and  higher,  until  he  reached  the 
point  at  which  the  next  order  of  beings  above 
him  started,  and  then  he  was  to  progress  on 


102  THE    PiAN    OF    CREATION. 


and  on,  as  do  the  angelic  beings,  through  the 
ages  of  eternity;  it  being  the  plan  to  take  man 
from  the  lowest  up  through  all  the  intermediate 
sources  of  enjoyment  to  the  highest. 

Man's  intellectual  faculties  having  been  once 
put  in  action,  would  continue  to  develop  ;  for 
all  nature  around  him  was  such  as  to  call  them 
into  constant  exercise. 

A  contrast  between  the  knowledge  and  intel- 
lectual development  of  the  nineteenth  century 
and  of  the  first  century  of  man's  existence  on 
the  earth,  shows  the  wonderful  growth  in  this 
respect,  as  well  as  the  truth  of  the  theory.  The 
law  governing  his  physical  well-being  would 
not  be  so  easily  understood,  and  still  more  dif- 
ficult would  it  be  for  him  to  learn  the  law  ac- 
cording to  which  his  moral  nature  was  to  be 
developed,  and  made  a  source  of  enjoyment. 
Hence,  on  these  two  special  information  must 
be  given,  more  particularly  as  to  the  latter. 
Among  other  things  it  would  be  necessary  for 
him  to  know  that  he  was  to  exist  forever  ;  that 
this  eternal  existence  would  always  be  agree- 
able, if  he  selected  the  causes  that  produced 


THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION.  103 

enjoyment ;  that  the  same  causes  would  al- 
ways produce  the  same  effects  ;  that  if  lie  neg- 
lected these  causes,  or  acted  contrary  to  them, 
it  would  occasion  not  only  a  want  of  enjoy- 
ment, but  also  would  result  in  pain  ;  that  if 
persisted  in,  the  pain  would  become  more  and 
more  intense,  just  as  the  opposite  course,  if  per- 
sisted in,  would  produce  more  and  more  enjoy- 
ment ;  that  the  intellectual  and  moral  faculties 
would  grow  in  the  direction  in  which  they  were 
exercised. 

Living  according  to  this  law  which  produces 
intellectual,  moral,  and  physical  enjoyment,  in 
the  most  efficient  manner,  or  greatest  degree, 
both  now  and  during  man's  eternal  existence,  is 
now  called  by  the  human  race  righteousness— 
sometimes  called  doing  right. 

Neglecting  to  live  according  to  this  law,  or 
living  contrary  to,  or  transgressing  it,  is  called 
sin — also  called  doing  wrong.  The  enjoyment 
that  naturally  results  in  the  future  from  living 
according  to  that  law  is  called  by  m^n  future  re- 
wards. The  suffering  that  results  in  the  future 
from  neglecting  or  transgressing  that  law  is 
called  future  punishment. 


104  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

Both  flow  as  natural  results  from  the  law  of 
enjoyment,  or  the  law  according  to  which  man 
must  act,  as  much  so  as  results  flow  from  any 
other  law  in  nature.  Neither  one  is  superadded, 
they  are  both  consequences  of  fixed  causes. 

These  two  words,  righteousness  and  sm,  are  the 
names  of  the  two  great  divisions  of  the  law  of 
enjoyment  and  suffering.  The  first  is  the  law 
which  leads  to  ever-increasing  enjoyment.  The 
second  is  the  neglect  or  transgression  of  the 
same  law,  and  leads  further  and  further  away 
from  enjoyment,  and  the  want  of  enjoyment  is 
suffering.  That  condition  of  the  soul  resulting 
from  not  attaining  enjoyment  is  suffering.  The 
soul  is  so  created  that  enjoyment  is  its  suste- 
nance and  growth.  Man  will  ever  seek  in  vain 
for  enjoyment  except  in  accordance  with  this 
law.  He  can  flee  to  no  place  and  espape  the 
fixed  consequences  that  result  from  its  trans- 
gression of  the  law  of  his  existence. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  LAW  OF  ENJOYMENT  AS  APPLIED  TO  MAN. 

Having  frequently  referred  to  the  law  by 
which  enjoyment  is  attained,  we  wish  now  to 
set  it  out  more  fully  as  applied  to  man. 

There  was  a  period  when  God  alone  existed. 
There  also  existed  in  God's  mind  thoughts  or 
ideas,  or  a  plan,  as  to  what  He  in  the  future 
would  do.  Whatever  thereafter  was  created 
was  but  a  cognizable  exposition  of  these  ideas. 
The  things  created  became  the  signs  by  which 
these  ideas  were  made  known  to  created  intel- 
ligences. In  this  way  God  is  the  source  of  all 
enjoyment.  His  ideas  or  thoughts  made  mani- 
fest in  the  laws  and  works  of  creation  are  the 
causes  of  enjoyment. 

God  has  caused  everything  that  exists  as  an 
affirmative  creation.  All  spiritual  beings,  all 
matter  throughout  space,  the  laws  governing  it 
in  all  the  systems  of  the  universe,  the  laws  gov- 


106  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

erning  it  in  all  its  phenomena,  all  the  laws  of 
life,  of  science,  and  of  morals,  all  of  the  animal, 
vegetable,  and  mineral  kingdoms,  all  are  caused 
by  Him.  All  these  constitute  the  great  book 
of  God  to  created  intelligences. 

Astronomy  is  the  record  of  the  past  and  fut- 
ure history  of  matter  in  space.  Geology  is  only 
a  chapter  in  the  earth's  history.  Chemistry  un- 
folds the  story  of  the  relations  existing  between 
atoms.  Botany  is  the  interpretation  of  God's 
handiwork  in  the  vegetable  kingdom.  Thus  in 
all  the  branches  of  science  we  may  show  that 
the  printed  books  of  man  are  but  transcripts  or 
interpretations,  of  the  ideas  proclaimed  in  the 
original  text-book  of  God. 

The  laws  and  facts  are  the  symbols  of  the 
thoughts  embodied  in  the  object.  The  whole 
is  designed  to  call  into  exercise  the  various 
faculties  of  the  mind.  The  exercising  of  the 
intellectual  faculties  is  had  by  observing  the 
objects  that  surround  us,  by  studying  them, 
and  generalizing  —  by  deducing  from  known 
phenomena  conclusions  as  to  what  is  true  be- 
yond in  the  hitherto  unknown.  In  the  pursuit 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  107 

of  this  everything  external  to  man  becomes  a 
matter  of  study.  The  atoms  of  matter,  con- 
trolled by  the  laws  of  chemistry,  forming  into 
crystals,  and  their  combinations  ;  the  laws  of 
the  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms  ;  the  laws 
of  geology  and  astronomy  ;  the  laws  of  mathe- 
matics and  the  abstract  sciences  ;  even  each  in- 
dividual spirit  and  body  becomes  a  subject  of 
study  and  of  enjoyment  to  man. 

Investigating  and  studying  all  the  branches 
of  science  is  attaining  enjoyment  through  the 
intellect.  Hearing,  seeing,  tasting,  smelling, 
touching,  and  talking  is  attaining  enjoyment 
through  the  physical  organs.  Using  the  intel- 
lectual faculties  and  physical  organs  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  produce  the  greatest  enjoyment, 
for  the  greatest  length  of  time,  is  attaining 
moral  enjoyment. 

The  law,  then,  according  to  which  enjoyment 
is  attained  by  man  is  this:  exercising  the  intel- 
lectual and  moral  faculties,  and  physical  organs, 
so  as  to  develop  each  in  a  proper  proportion, 
thereby  producing  the  greatest  happiness.  Man, 
then,  is  to  obtain  enjoyment  through  his  intel- 


108  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

Icctual  and  moral  faculties,  and  through  his 
physical  organs.  When  first  created  he  knew 
nothing  of  these  laws,  and  it  became  a  matter  of 
necessity  for  his  Creator  to  inform  him  on  these 
subjects,  or  to  make  a  revelation  to  him  to 
guide  him  aright. 

At  first  the  revelations  would  of  necessity  be 
frequent,  but  as  man  became  older  he  would 
learn  more  and  more  by  observation  and  by 
reasoning.  The  same  principle  would  apply  to 
the  early  human  race  as  a  whole. 

At  first  revelations  would  often  occur,  but 
they  would  grow  less  and  less  frequent  as  the 
race  progressed  in  knowledge  and  experience. 
And  when  sufficient  had  been  revealed,  and  the 
race  had  progressed  in  knowledge,  so  that  it 
could  from  the  revealed  facts,  and  from  its  own 
knowledge,  understand  the  laws  according  to 
which  it  must  live  in  order  to  attain  enjoyment, 
a  further  revelation  would  cease,  and  thereafter 
man  would  have  to  work  out  his  own  develop- 
ment. The  exercise  of  the  various  faculties  in 
thus  working  out  his  development  would  be  en- 
joyment, and  would  be  in  pursuance  of  the  law 
to  which  we  have  referred. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

WHAT  WOULD    BE   REVEALED    TO    THE   RACE    OF    MAN, 
AND  HOW  IT  WOULD  BE  AUTHENTICATED. 

In  order  to  secure  to  the  race  of  man  the 
greatest  enjoyment  there  would  have  to  be  re- 
vealed to  it  the  law  according  to  which  enjoy- 
ment would  be  attained,  and  the  leading  facts 
relating  to  man's  existence,  especially  that 
which  was  necessary  for  man's  immediate  use, 
and  which  could  not  be  readily  discovered  by 
reason  or  observation.  There  would  be  revealed 
the  facts  :  that  there  was  a  God,  who  created 
all  things,  visible  and  invisible  ;  that  He  was 
omnipotent,  eternal,  infinite,  of  free  will,  and 
unchanging  ;  that  He  was  the  supreme  ruler  of 
the  universe  and  of  its  inhabitants ;  that  He 
created  the  race  for  a  destiny  of  happiness  ;  that 
in  the  future  man  would  exist  in  a  state  of  en- 
joyment, or  in  a  state  of  suffering,  according  as 
the  individual  lived  pursuant  to  the  law  of  en- 
joyment, or  contrary  thereto. 


110  THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

It  would  also  be  revealed  that  this  law  of  the 
connection  between  cause  and  effect  was  invari- 
able and  must  be  obeyed.  The  leading  vital 
portions  of  this  law  must  be  known  so  that 
man  could  live  according  to  it.  The  rest  he 
could  study  out  and  therefrom  have  enjoyment 
in  studying. 

The  intellectual  faculties,  by  their  own  in- 
herent activity,  would  naturally  develop  them- 
selves in  observing  the  surrounding  objects  in 
nature  and  reasoning  thereupon.  Therefore 
little  would  be  revealed  on  matters  purely  intel- 
lectual, and  that  little  mostly  as  collateral  mat- 
ter to  other  subjects. 

The  physical  organs  are  so  adjusted  that  pain 
generally  gives  warning  of  a  violation  of  the 
laws  governing  them,  and  little  would  be  re- 
vealed relating  to  them.  The  development  of 
the  moral  faculties,  and  a  knowledge  of  moral 
duties,  are  the  result  of  experiments  and  expe- 
rience, and  are  the  most  important  in  reference 
to  the  future.  Hence,  revelations  on  this  sub- 
ject would  be  most  complete. 

At  first  the  revelation  would  be  day  by  day 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  Ill 

of  special  facts  or  acts.  Afterward,  as  the 
mind  of  man  developed,  general  principles  and 
laws  would  be  revealed,  until  enough  would  be 
known,  so  that  the  human  family,  with  its  ac- 
cumulated experience,  could  work  out  its  own 
destiny  —  one  great  object  being  ever  in  view, 
namely,  to  let  the  human  intellect  have  the 
pleasure  of  discovering  all  these  laws  as  facts  in 
nature  for  itself.  Obedience  to  these  revela- 
tions would  be  all -important,  it  would  be  the 
only  safety. 

It  would  be  further  revealed  and  provided 
that  where  man  by  ignorance  of  the  law,  or  by 
weakness  or  disobedience,  violated  this  law,  he 
still  might  counteract  the  bad  effect  on  his 
mental  and  moral  nature  by  turning  from  that 
course  and  mentally  resolving  not  to  follow  it, 
and  by  obeying  the  law.  In  other  words,  by 
repenting  of,  and  turning  from,  wrong  doing,  or 
from  transgressing  the  law. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  man  was  created  the 
lowest  in  the  scale  of  immortal  beings,  and  was 
in  the  greatest  ignorance  of  the  law  according 
to  which  he  must  live,  and  when  born  has  no 


112  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

mental  power  to  do  either  right  or  wrong,  the 
disposition  of  perfect  benevolence  would  be  to 
reveal  the  essentials  requisite  to  secure  enjoy- 
ment, future  and  eternal,  so  plainly  that  the  fool, 
though  a  wayfaring  man,  need  not  err  therein. 
There  would  be  revealed — 

First. — That  there  is  a  God. 

Second. — That  the  soul  is  immortal. 

Third. — That  it  would  exist  in  the  future  in 
a  state  of  enjoyment  or  suffering. 

Fourth. — That  to  attain  enjoyment,  notwith- 
standing innocent  mistakes,  he  must  let  love  to 
God,  man,  and  beast  control  all  his  acts  and 
words.  (For  if  a  man  out  of  love  does  a  wrong 
act  the  intent  to  do  wrong  is  absent  and  no 
moral  wrong  is  done.) 

Fifth. — That  where  he  does  a  known  wrong 
he  must  at  once  and  in  love  do  what  he  can  to 
repair  it,  and  must  try.  to  the  best  of  his  abili- 
ty, not  to  repeat  it. 

Sixth. — That  where  a  person  does  a  wrong, 
and  upon  reflection  sees  that  it  is  wrong,  and 
regrets  it,  and  desires  to  do  it  no  more,  and  re- 
solves not  to  do  it — in  other  words,  turns  from 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  113 

the  wrong  and  repents,  God  will  forgive  him 
and  relieve  him  from  the  evil  effects. 

Seventh.  —  That  man  was  so  organized  that 
living  according  to  this  revealed  law  would 
cause  enjoyment,  and  disobeying  or  neglecting 
it  would  cause  suffering. 

These  propositions  being  understood,  can  be 
obeyed  by  anyone,  and  they  embrace  all  acts  on 
the  part  of  the  individual  that  were  essential  to 
give  him  enjoyment. 

Revelation  would  also  embrace  another  dis- 
tinct branch,  to-wit. :  The  law  of  development, 
or  the  law  whereby  these  essentials  may  produce 
their  greatest  effect.  It  may  be  called  the  law 
of  growth  in  grace,  or  growth  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  mental  and  moral  faculties  of  man. 

These  would  embrace  the  theoretical  part  of 
the  revelations.  Of  course  man.  in  the  early 
history  of  the  race,  would  not  have  acquired 
sufficient  knowledge  to  enable  him  to  determine 
the  truth  of  these  revelations.  He  would  have 
to  accept  them  as  a  matter  of  faith,  and  obey 
or  disobey  at  his  peril. 

There  would,   in   time,   arise  in  the   human 


114  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

mind  a  fearful  doubt  on  these  points.  The 
questions  would  arise  —  can  man,  assisted  by 
God,  live  as  he  is  required  to  ?  Is  there  power 
in  God  to  cause  the  dead  to  live?  Is  death  an- 
nihilation ?  Is  the  soul  immortal  ?  Are  the 
things  revealed  true  ?  Does  the  Great  First 
Cause  care  for  these  animated  atoms  of  human- 
ity, lost  in  their  insignificance  in  the  great  uni- 
verse ? 

It  can  readily  be  seen  how  these  doubts  would, 
as  age  after  age  rolled  by,  settle  down  on  the 
human  mind  like  a  dark  night. 

To  remove  this,  something  more  than  a  reve- 
lation might  be  expected.  If  God  would  in  some 
way  assume  a  tangible  form,  and  live  and  talk 
with  man,  and  endure  the  temptations  and  trials 
of  man,  and  by  means  of  his  divine  strength, 
live  a  pure  and  spotless  life;  and  if,  further,  he 
should  pass  through  what  we  call  death,  and 
rise  again  from  it,  arid  live,  thus  giving  man  a 
a  perfect  type  of  life  in  accordance  with  God's 
requirements,  thus  showing  the  results  of  such 
a  life  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul ;  if  he 
were  to  do  all  this,  it  would  be  a  demonstration 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATIOX.  115 

of  incalculable  good.  The  individuals  of  the 
race  would  thus  feel  that  they  were  more  than 
created  entities,  floating  in  the  stream  of  time, 
to  uncared  for  destinies.  They  would  realize 
the  high  possibility  of  enjoyment  that  was  for 
them  in  the  future.  The  race  would  know  that 
the  omnipotent  creative  power  was  ready  to 
strengthen  the  weakness  of  man,  and  thereby 
bring  him  to  final  enjoyment. 

The  circumstances  of  suffering  that  attend  the 
race  of  man  would  be  only  incidental  to  the 
low  order  to  which  he  belongs.  In  due  process 
of  time,  those  of  the  order  who  live  according 
to  the  ordained  lav/  of  development,  would 
progress  beyond  these  circumstances,  and  ob- 
tain such  a  knowledge  of  the  law  of  cause  and 
effect,  and  such  strength  of  will,  that  they  would 
forever  obey  the  law,  and  thus  receive  there- 
after nothing  but  enjoyment.  Out  of  the  whole 
race  there  would  be,  presumably,  thus  brought 
to  great  happiness,  a  sufficient  number  to  fully 
justify  the  creation  of  the  order.  Those  of  the 
race  who  transgressed  or  neglected  this  law 
would  not,  of  course,  attain  enjoyment.  For 


116  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

only  by  following  the  given  series  of  causes  can 
such  a  result  be  reached.  To  such  there  could 
remain  only  suffering,  and  a  want  of  enjoyment, 
so  long  as  they  thus  neglect  and  transgress  the 
law. 

As  the  intellect  of  man  developed,  and  as  he 
invented  writing,  and  as  these  revelations  were 
made  matters  of  record,  and  preserved  for  the 
race,  the  repetition  of  the  revelation  would 
cease  ;  the  records  would  be  authenticated  as 
divine  in  such  manner  as  under  the  laws  of  be- 
lief, established  by  God,  was  necessary.  This 
authentication  would  be  : 

First. —  By  phenomena  that  were  above  the 
power  of  man  to  perform,  for  convincing  those 
present  at  the  time. 

Second. —  By  statements  of  things  to  occur  in 
the  future,  for  proof  to  those  who  should  live 
at  a  future  time. 

Third. —  By  the  things  revealed  being  in  ac- 
cordance with  law  and  fact,  or  being  in  reality 
law  and  fact,  but  of  such  a  nature  that  man 
could  not  discover  them,  except  after  attaining 
great  scientific  knowledge  and  experience. 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  117 

Of  the  first  class  of  evidence  are  miracles;  of 
the  second,  prophecy;  of  the  third,  revelation 
of  unknown  facts  in  nature. 

Miracles  would  be  performed  in  the  early 
ages,  when  the  revelations  were  made.  Proph- 
ecy would  be  given,  the  fulfillment  of  which 
would  run  down  with  the  stream  of  time  until 
it  reaches  the  ocean  of  eternity.  The  things  re- 
vealed would  be  necessary  to  the  development 
and  enjoyment  of  the  race.  They  would  be  of 
such  a  character,  that  man  could  not  by  his  in- 
tellect discover  them  at  the  time  they  were  re- 
vealed. But  as  the  intellect  developed,  and  as 
man  accumulated  knowledge  and  experience,  he 
would  find  that  the  things  revealed  were  facts 
and  laws  in  nature.  The  internal  evidence 
would  thus  be  the  highest  and  best  evidence 
to  the  race  in  its  stages  of  highest  intellectual 
development. 


6« 


CHAPTER  XY. 

SUMMARY    OF    GENERAL    PRINCIPLES    AND    GENERAL 
LAWS. 

From  a  review  of  the  foregoing  pages,  we  have 
the  following  general  outline  of  the  plan  of  crea- 
tion as  a  whole.  The  creation  of: 

First. — Spiritual  beings,  subject  to  laws. 

Second. — Matter  throughout  space,  subject  to 
such  laws  as  would  produce  the  grandest,  most 
complicated,  and  most  beautiful  phenomena  for 
the  instruction  and  enjoyment  of  intelligent  be- 
ings. 

Third. — Spirit  or  life  and  matter  united,  sub- 
ject to  laws. 

In  connection  with  the  creation  of  the  fore- 
going there  would  be  established  three  general 
laws  or  classes  of  laws. 

First. —  The  law  of  enjoyment,  or  the  law 
through  which  enjoyment  would  be  attained. 

Second. — The  laws  governing  matter. 


THE    PLAN    OF   CREATION.  119 

Third. — The  law  of  life,  or  the  law  according 
to  which  life  would  appear  in  various  ages  of 
the  world. 

There  would  be  three  classes  of  faculties  and 
organs  through  which  enjoyment  would  be  at- 
tained. 

First. — Moral  faculties.' 

Second. — Intellectual  faculties. 

Third. — Physical  organs. 

Any  created  being  may  have  one  or  more  of 
these  means  of  enjoyment.  There  might  there- 
fore be  created  seven  different  classes  of  beings 
with  : 

First. — Moral  faculties  alone. 

Second. — Moral  faculties  and  physical  organs. 

Third. — Moral  and  intellectual  faculties. 

Fourth. — Moral  and  intellectual  faculties  and 
physical  organs. 

Fifth. — Intellectual  faculties  and  physical  or- 
gans. 

Sixth. — Intellectual  faculties. 

Seventh. — Physical  organs. 

It  is  difficult  to  conceive  of  a  being  having 
none  but  moral  faculties  of  enjoyment,  or  moral 


120  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

and  physical,  or  intellectual  or  physical  alone. 
Therefore  the  first,  second,  sixth,  and  seventh 
may  be  passed  without  further  discussion.  The 
reader  may  give  them  such  consideration  as  he 
wishes. 

The  beings  with  moral  and  intellectual  pow- 
ers would  be  the  spiritual  or  angelic  orders. 

Those  with  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical 
natures  would  be  man. 

Those  limited  to  the  intellectual  and  physical 
combinations  probably  are  the  orders  below 
man. 

The  beings  created  for  enjoyment  would  have 
the  following  distinguishing  characteristics  : 

First. — As  individuals,  each  would  in  some 
respect  differ  from  all  the  others,  so  that  there 
would  be  no  duplicate  individuals. 

Second. —  There  would  be  distinct  orders  of 
beings,  each  order  differing  from  all  the  others. 
There  would  be  no  duplicate  orders. 

Third. — Each  order  would  be  filled  with  be- 
ings, in  number  equal  to  the  number  of  varia- 
tions and  combinations  of  the  faculties  possible 
in  that  order. 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  12  L 

Fourth. — These  orders  would  be  on  a  scale 
lower  and  lower,  until  an  order  would  be  created 
lacking  some  of  the  faculties. 

From  the  successive  still  lower  orders,  more 
faculties  would  be  omitted,  until  one  would  be 
reached  wherein  only  a  single  faculty  for  enjoy- 
ment existed.  Whatever  gradations  were  pos- 
sible would  occur.  There  would  thus  be  a  grad- 
uated scale  of  orders  and  beings,  making  a  per- 
fect whole,  capable  of  enjoyment  and  existing 
as  objects  of  enjoyment  to  the  others,  thus  con- 
tributing to  the  greatest  enjoyment  to  the  great- 
est number. 

Of  these  beings,  those  would  be  immortal 
which  were  so  constituted  that  their  faculties 
of  enjoyment  would  remain,  notwithstanding 
the  changes  that  might  occur  in  the  material 
universe.  While  those  that  would  have  their 
sources  of  enjoyment  destroyed  by  such  changes 
would  have  only  a  temporary  existence. 

Each  order  was,  therefore,  created  so  that  the 
plan  of  creation  might  be  full  and  complete — 
no  duplicate  orders,  no  beings  left  out. 

Man  was  therefore  created  and  circumstanced 


122  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

as  he  is,  because  all  higher  orders  were  filled. 
To  create  him  in  a  higher  order  would  have 
been  to  duplicate  some  pre-existing  order,  and 
to  have  left  uncreated  the  order  now  known 
as  man.  Either  of  these  last  would  not  have 
caused  the  greatest  enjoyment  to  the  greatest 
number.  The  evils,  or  ills,  to  which  man  may 
be  subject,  would  be  only  temporary  and  inci- 
dental to  the  order  to  which  he  belongs.  He, 
with  all  his  attendant  circumstances,  would 
come  in  to  fill  out  the  great  plan.  He  would 
have  his  enjoyment,  and  would  be  a  source  of 
pleasure  to  the  rest  of  the  created  intelligences 
of  the  universe.  Omit  him,  and  these  two  fail. 
Create  him  different  from  what  he  is,  and  he 
becomes  a  duplicate  of  some  other  order. 

Owing  to  the  low  order  to  which  man  would 
belong,  and  his  ignorance  and  inexperience,  it 
would  be  necessary  for  his  Creator  to  become 
his  instructor,  and  to  communicate  to  him  a 
knowledge  of  such  laws  and  facts  as  were  nec- 
essary to  guide  him  in  the  way  of  enjoyment. 
It  would  also  be  necessary  to  authenticate  this 
communication  or  revelation  in  such  a  way  as 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  123 

to  show  that  it  was  from  the  Creator  and  Ruler 
of  all.  As  the  character  and  extent  of  that  rev- 
elation, and  the  manner  in  which  it  would  be 
authenticated,  were  the  subjects  of  the  preced- 
ing chapter,  it  is  not  necessary  to  recapitulate 
them  in  detail  at  this  time. 

Heretofore  this  work  has  been  mainly  an  a 
priori  argument,  based  on  the  hypothesis  that 
God  is  a  Being  of  perfect  benevolence.  On  this 
hypothesis  we  have  endeavored  to  show  that 
God  would  establish  a  plan  of  creation  whereby 
he  would  cause  the  greatest  enjoyment,  for  the 
greatest  length  of  time,  to  the  greatest  number, 
with  the  least  suffering  to  the  fewest  individ- 
uals. We  will  now  call  attention  to  evidence 
which  substantiates  the  theory  advanced. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

EVIDENCE    TO    SHOW    THE    CREATION    OF    SPIRITUAL 
BEINGS    OF    DIFFERENT    ORDERS. 

In  the  preceding  pages  we  endeavored  to 
show,  as  a  conclusion  resulting  from  the  facts 
in  the  material  world,  and  from  the  laws  gov- 
erning matter,  that  there  must  be  a  God  who 
created  matter  from  nothing.  Combining  with 
this  fact  the  assumed  proposition,  that  God 
is  a  Being  of  perfect  benevolence,  we  have  en- 
deavored to  show  further,  that  this  benevolence 
would  manifest  itself  in  producing  the  greatest 
enjoyment,  for  the  greatest  length  of  time,  to 
the  greatest  number,  with  the  least  suffering  to 
the  fewest  individuals.  We  have  also  endeav- 
ored to  show  that  there  would  be  a  creation  of 
beings  and  matter  for  this  purpose,  and  that 
there  would  be  some  general  plan  of  creation 
by  which  these  objects  would  be  accomplished. 
The  outline  of  that  plan  we  have  tried  to  set 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  125 

forth  by  process  of  reasoning,  and  have  not  at- 
tempted, except  incidentally,  to  produce  any  evi- 
dence in  support  of  it.  The  question  undoubt- 
edly arises  at  this  time  prominently  in  the  mind 
of  the  reader,  do  any  sufficient  number  of  known 
facts  support  the  theory,  or  are  the  facts,  so  far 
as  they  are  known,  in  harmony  with  this  plan 
of  creation?  The  second  part  of  our  work  will 
be  to  examine  this  subject. 

First. — The  plan  involves  the  creation  of  spir- 
itual or  angelic  beings  —  that  is,  spirit  not  con- 
nected with  material  bodies.  Is  there  any  proof 
of  the  existence  of  such  beings? 

We  can  neither  see,  hear,  taste,  touch,  or 
smell  the  mind  or  spirit  of  our  fellow  man,  and 
we  could  not  reasonably  expect  to  take  cogni- 
zance of  purely  spiritual  beings  with  any  of  the 
same  five  senses.  No  direct  proof,  therefore, 
can  be  had  on  the  subject.  The  proof  is  limited 
to  hearsay  evidence. 

Of  course  the  Being  who  created  angels  and 
men  could  allow  communication  between  the 
two,  when  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  producing 
the  greatest  good. 


126  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

If  there  were  such  beings,  God  would  proba- 
bly reveal  that  fact  incidentally  to  man,  in  con- 
nection with  other  matters.  If  there  were  no 
such  beings,  it  would  not  be  revealed  that  they 
did  exist.  A  revelation,  therefore,  of  the  exist- 
ence of  such  beings  would  have  the  weight  of 
being  in  harmony  with  the  plan  of  creation, 
and  if  there  is  no  further  evidence  on  the  sub- 
ject, we  have  the  logical  right  to  claim  that  all 
the  evidence  corresponds  with  the  Plan.  We 
will,  therefore,  proceed  to  examine  the  state- 
ments of  the  Bible  on  this  subject,  assuming  for 
the  present  that  the  Bible  contains  a  revelation. 
In  a  subsequent  chapter  (XX)  we  will  endeavor 
to  show  that  the  declarations  of  the  Bible  are 
entitled  to  weight  as  evidence  in  this  matter,  as 
being  a  revelation  from  God,  and  as  being  a 
part  of  the  plan  of  creation. 

Before  considering  the  testimony  from  it,  we 
call  the  reader's  attention  to  the  many  and  per- 
sistent declarations  of  different  men.  that  they 
have  seen  and  communicated  with  angelic  be- 
ings. In  many,  if  not  in  all,  such  cases  the  in- 
dividual may  have  been  laboring  under  a  hallu- 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  127 

cination.     The  reader  may  attach  to  these  dec- 
larations whatever  weight  he  sees  fit. 

In  the  Bible  we  find  the  following  statements, 
purporting  to  have  been  made  by  God,  or  by  a 
person  inspired  by  Him  to  speak  : 

That  angels  were  created  by  God. 

Thou  hast  made  heaven,  the  heaven  of  heavens,  with 
all  their  hosts  .  .  thou  preservest  them  all ;  and  the 
host  of  heaven  worshippeth  thee. — Nefiemiah,  9:6. 

For  by  him  were  all  things  created,  that  are  in  heaven, 
and  that  are  in  earth,  visible  and  invisible,  whether  tlu>y 
be  thrones,  or  dominions,  or  principalities,  or  powers  ; 
all  things  were  created  by  him,  and  for  him. — Colossians, 
1:16. 

"Who  maketh  his  angels  spirits :  his  ministers  a  flaming 
fire.— Ps.,  104:4. 

Praise  ye  him  all  his  angels  .  .  .  Let  them  praise 
the  name  of  the  Lord  ;  for  he  commanded,  and  they 
were  created. — Ps.,  148:  2,  5. 

They  were  created  before  man. 

Where  wast  thou  when  I  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
earth  ?  declare  if  thou  hast  understanding.  Who  hath 
laid  the  measures  thereof,  if  thou  knowest  ?  or  who  hath 
stretched  the  line  upon  it  ?  Whereupon  are  the  founda- 
tions thereof  fastened?  or  who  laid  the  corner-stone 
thereof ;  when  the  morning  stars  sang  together  and  all 
the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy. — Job,  38:  4-7. 

The  angels  are  of  different  orders. 
Above  it  stood  the  seraphims. — Zsa.,  6:2. 


128  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

For  the  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from  heaven  with 
a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  with  the 
trump  of  God.— 1  Thes.,  4:16. 

Who  is  gone  into  heaven  and  is  on  the  right  hand  of 
God  ;  angels  and  authorities  and  powers  being  made 
subject  unto  him. — 1  Pet.,  3:22  ;  Jade,  9. 

And  there  was  war  in  heaven :  Michael  and  his  angels 
fought  against  the  dragon. — Rev.,  12:7. 

They  are  innumerable. 

Is  there  any  number  of  his  armies  ?  and  upon  whom 
doth  not  his  light  arise  ? — Job,  25 : 3. 

And  to  an  innumerable  company  of  angels.— Neb. , 
12:22;  Dan.,  7:10. 

Angels  were  seen  by  different  persons. 

And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  found  her  by  a  fountain  of 
water  in  the  wilderness,  by  the  fountain  in  the  way  to 
Shur.— Gen.,  16:7. 

And  there  came  two  angels  to  Sodom  at  even. — Gen., 
19:1. 

Then  the  Lord  opened  the  eyes  of  Balaam,  and  he  saw 
the  angel  of  the  Lord  standing  in  the  way. — Num., 
22:31. 

And  it  came  to  pass,  when  I,  even  I  Daniel,  had  seen 
the  vision,  and  sought  for  the  meaning,  then  behold, 
there  stood  before  me  as  the  appearance  of  a  ma.n. — 
Dan.,  8:15. 

Yea,  while  I  locus  speaking  in  prayer,  even  the  man 
Gabriel,  whom  I  had  seen  in  the  vision  at  the  beginning, 
being  caused  to  fly  swiftly,  touched  me  about  the  time  of 
the  evening  oblation. — Dan.,  9:  21. 

And  behold,  one  like  the  similitude  of  the  sons  of  men 
touched  my  lips. — Dan.,  10: 16. 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  129 

And  there  appeared  unto  him  an  angel  of  the  Lord, 
standing  on  the  right  side  of  the  altar  of  incense. — 
Luke,  1:11. 

And  in  the  sixth  month  the  angel  Gabriel  was  sent 
from  God  unto  a  city  of  Galilee,  named  Nazareth. — 
Luke,  1:26. 

And  suddenly  there  was  with  the  angel  a  multitude  of 
the  heavenly  host  praising  God,  and  saying. — Luke,  2:13. 
See  also  Matth.,  28  ;  Mark,  16  ;  Acts,  12:  7;  Rev.,  19: 10; 
Rev.,  22:8. 

Many  other  instances  occur  where  the  Bible 
refers  to  them. 

The  evidence  in  possession  of  the  race  tends 
to  establish  the  existence  of  angels.  We  have 
no  evidence  to  the  contrary.  In  the  plan  of 
creation  this  is  probably  one  of  the  things  for 
us  to  know  more  fully  in  the  future.  It  is  a 
subject  for  the  exercise  of  the  intellect,  and  is 
only  revealed  incidentally  and  in  connection 
with  other  matters.  There  exists  all  the  proof 
we  could  expect  under  the  plan  of  creation. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  EXTENT  OF  THE  CREATION  OF  MATTER. 

One  of  the  important  parts  of  the  plan  of 
creation  was  shown  to  be  the  creation  of  mat- 
ter, subject  to  such  laws  as  would  produce  the 
grandest,  most  complicated,  and  most  beautiful 
phenomena  for  the  instruction  and  enjoyment 
of  intelligent  beings.  It  would  be  impossible 
in  any  book  to  exhaust  this  branch  of  the  sub- 
ject, or  to  set  it  out  in  all  its  detail.  That 
would  be  an  attempt  by  one  individual  to  com- 
pass a  universe  which  has  for  millions  of  years 
been  evolving  phenomena. 

It  is  the  destiny  of  the  race,  and  of  created 
intelligences,  to  herein  find  subjects  for  study 
during  eternity  to  come.  We  shall,  therefore, 
limit  this  chapter  to  a  few  of  the  prominent 
facts  in  connection  with  this  part  of  our  sub- 
ject. 

An  idea  of  the  grand  extent  of  this  creation 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  131 

of  matter  in  space  may  be  approximated,  if  the 
finite  can  be  said  to  approximate  the  infinite, 
from  the  following  facts. 

The  unassisted  eye  can  behold  about  five 
thousand  stars  in  the  heavens.  The  most  pow- 
erful telescopes  reveal  from  thirty  to  fifty  mill- 
ion distinct  stars.  The  stars  of  the  first  magni- 
tude are  at  such  a  distance  that  it  would  take 
their  light  sixteen  years  to  reach  the  earth. 
Now  when  the  reader  remembers  that  light 
travels  more  than  182,000  miles  per  second,  or 
nearly  16,000,000,000  miles  per  day,  he  will 
faintly  conceive  the  great  distance  of  these  stars. 
Let  us  take  this  distance  as  unity,  as  our  meas- 
uring rod.  The  distance  between  the  farthest 
stars  visible  with  the  telescope,  in  opposite 
parts  of  space,  is  estimated  to  be  850  lengths 
of  our  assumed  rod  ;  that  is,  light  traveling 
nearly  sixteen  billions  of  miles  per  day,  would 
take  13,600  years  to  wing  its  weary  flight  across 
this  vast  expanse.  Within  this  area  of  space 
are  floating  from  thirty  to  fifty  millions  of  brill- 
iant suns,  called  by  us  stars.  Each  one  is 
moving  on  a  line  known  in  science  as  the  re- 


132  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

sultan t  of  the  force  of  attraction,  exerted  by 
each  atom  of  matter  on  each  other  atom.  Some 
of  these  bodies  are  moving  with  a  velocity  of 
over  tiuo  hundred  miles  per  second.  This  vast 
procession  of  celestial  torches  suspended  in 
space,  and  circling  around  the  central  point  of 
attraction  of  the  whole  mass,  is  called  the  stel- 
lar system.  It  is  the  system  to  which  our  little 
earth  belongs. 

The  known  extent  of  matter  is  not  limited  to 
these  vast  boundaries.  Take  now  a  new  meas- 
uring line  of  such  length  that  it  reaches  from 
side  to  side  of  this  system.  Along  this  line 
light  speeds  for  13,600  years  ere  it  has  gone  its 
length.  Now  permit  the  imagination  to  fly  on 
swiftest  wings  of  thought  so  far  beyond  the 
limits  of  this  system,  that  it  gradually  becomes 
smaller  and  smaller,  until  the  distance  is  so 
great  that  the  whole  system  is  a  dim  star  of  the 
fifth  magnitude.  The  measuring  line  across  our 
system  spans  but  the  fraction  of  a  second  of 
an  arc  as  seen  from  the  end  of  this  journey. 
Will  matter  be  found  to  exist  there?  Yes  !  In 
Centauri  is  a  sstem  called  a  star-nebula, 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  133 

equally  great  in  its  extent  as  the  one  we  have 
described,  and  so  distant  that  the  aggregate 
light  from  its  extreme  limits  reaches  us  as  the 
light  from  a  star  of  the  fifth  magnitude.  The 
distance  between  this  star-nebula  and  our  stel- 
lar system  is  so  great  that  light  flying  through 
space  at  the  rate  of  nearly  6,000,000,000,000 
(six  trillion}  miles  per  year  would  require  many 
millions  of  years  to  pass  over  the  distance. 
Vast,  inconceivably  and  immeasurably  vast  as 
is  this  space,  it  only  measures  one -half  of  the 
known  distance.  For  in  the  opposite  part  of 
the  heavens  are  other  star -nebulae,  forming 
other  systems  equally  great.  In  addition  to  all 
this,  there  come  to  us,  from  objects  in  the  depths 
of  space,  rays  of  light  of  such  a  fugitive  char- 
acter, that  science  can  not  yet  interpret  the 
message  they  bring.  Many  of  them  undoubt- 
edly are  from  systems  so  far  beyond  the  ones 
we  have  referred  to,  that  our  most  powerful 
telescopes  fail  to  gather  a  sufficient  number  of 
rays  of  light  to  produce  an  effect  that  can  be 
distinguished.  The  spectroscope  equally  fails 
to  tell  us  the  tidings  from  these  distant  objects. 


134  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

These  facts  show  that  the  extent  of  the  crea- 
tion of  matter  in  space  is  in  harmony  with  the 
plan  of  creation.  It  is  on  a  scale  of  such  magni- 
tude that  it  will  produce  the  grandest  phenom- 
ena for  the  enjoyment  of  created  intelligences. 
Law  and  order  extend  throughout  the  whole. 
The  atoms  under  the  laws  of  crystallization  are 
building  forms  of  exquisite  beauty.  Life  in  the 
vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms  springs  forth 
clothed  in  mysterious  garments  of  matter. 

The  complication  and  beauty  evolved,  in  this 
material  universe,  from  the  single  atom  to  the 
aggregate  of  all  atoms,  are  but  further  evidences 
of  the  great  plan  of  creation. 

No  man  can  even  formulate  an  expression  to 
designate  the  period  of  time  in  the  future,  when 
these  phenomena  shall  cease  to  be  evolved.  It 
must,  however,  lead  the  mind  to  the  conclusion, 
that  matter  has  been  created  throughout  space, 
subject  to  such  laws  as  will  produce  the  grand- 
est, most  complicated,  and  most  beautiful  phe- 
nomena for  instruction  and  enjoyment.  All 
these  are  but  the  words  of  the  Creator  to  his 
created  intelligent  beings.  They  show  forth  the 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  135 

omnipotence,  eternity,  wisdom,  and  other  attri- 
butes of  God.  "The  heavens  declare  the  glory 
of  God,  and  the  firmament  showeth  his  handi- 
work. Day  unto  day  uttereth  speech,  and  night 
unto  night  showeth  knowledge.  There  is  no 
speech,  nor  language,  their  voice  is  not  heard. 
Their  line  is  gone  out  through  all  the  earth, 
and  their  words  to  the  end  of  the  world." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

EVIDENCE  TO  SHOW  THAT  MAN  WAS  CREATED  AN  OR- 
DER OF  BEINGS  LOWER  THAN  THE  ANGELS,  WHEREIN 
MIND  AND  MATTER  ARE  UNITED  ;  AND  THAT  HE  HAS 
BEEN  SPECIALLY  CARED  FOR  BY  THE  CREATOR. 

The  plan  of  creation  involves  the  existence  of 
an  order,  below  the  angels,  of  immortal  beings, 
spirit  connected  with  matter.  That  man  is  this 
order  is  confirmed  by  Psa.,  8:  5. — "For  thou 
hast  made  him  a  little  lower  than  the  angels." 

Man  is  spirit  and  matter  united. 

And  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the 
ground,  and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life; 
and  man  became  a  living  soul. — Gen.,  2:7. 

Man  is  immortal. 

And  many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth 
shall  awake,  some  to  everlasting  life,  and  some  to  shame 
and  everlasting  contempt. — Dan.,  12:  2. 

And  they  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of 
the  firmament ;  and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteous- 
ness, as  the  stars  forever  and  ever. — Dan.,  12:  3. 

Who  knoweth  the  spirit  of  man  that  goeth  upward, 
and  the  spirit  of  the  beast  that  goeth  downward  to  the 
earth?— Eccl,  3:  21. 


THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION.  137 

Then  shall  the  dust  return  to  the  earth  as  it  was :  and 
the  spirit  shall  return  unto  God  who  gave  it. — EccL, 
12:7. 

And  fear  not  them  which  kill  the  body,  but  are  not 
able  to  kill  the  soul :  but  rather  fear  him  which  is  able  to 
destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  hell. — Matt.,  10:  28. 

Now  that  the  dead  are  raised,  even  Moses  shewed  at 
the  bush,  when  he  calleth  the  Lord  the  God  of  Abraham, 
and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob.  For  he  is 
not  a  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living ;  for  all  live 
unto  him.— Luke,  20:  37,  38. 

And  I  give  unto  them  eternal  life  ;  and  they  shall 
never  perish,  neither  shall  any  man  pluck  them  out  of 
my  hand.—  John,  10:  28. 

In  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  at  the  last 
trump:  for  the  trumpet  shall  sound,  and  the  dead  shall 
be  raised  incorruptible,  and  we  shall  be  changed.— 
1  Cor.,  15:  52. 

But  is  now  made  manifest  by  the  appearing  of  our 
Savior  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  abolished  death,  and  hath 
brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  through  the  gospel. 
—2  Tim  ,1:10 

The  evidence  on  these  points  agrees  with  the 
plan  of  creation,  as  hereinbefore  set  out. 

Another  requirement  of  this  plan  is  that  man, 
on  account  of  his  ignorance,  resulting  from  the 
low  order  to  which  he  belonged,  would  have  re- 
vealed to  him  such  facts  and  laws  as  were  neces- 
sary in  the  plan  of  creation  to  cause  his  proper 
part  of  enjoyment ;  and  that  this  revelation 


138  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

would  be  properly  authenticated  by  miracles, 
prophecy,  and  internal  evidence. 

We  shall  now  undertake  to  show  that  man's 
creation  and  history  have  been  in  accordance 
with  these  requirements.  This  will  more  fully 
appear  from  a  chronological  examination  of  the 
subject. 

From  our  oldest  history,  the  Bible,  we  learn 
that  the  body  of  the  first  man  was  formed  out 
of  the  earth,  and  his  soul  was  placed  therein 
by  the  Creator.  The  first  account  of  him  is  as 
a  full  grown  man,  not  a  child,  but  as  a  man. 
He  was  not  a  spontaneous  generation,  neither 
was  he  a  developed  descendant  of  a  lower  order 
of  animals.  He  was  created  a  new  and  distinct 
order,  a  man  from  the  first. 

So  God  created  man  in  his  own  image,  in  the  image  of 
God  created  he  him  ;  male  and  female  created  he  them. 
—  Gen.,  1:27. 

And  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the 
ground,  and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life; 
and  man  became  a  living  soul. — Gen.,  2:7. 

The  first  woman  was  likewise  created  of  full 
growth,  and  not  a  child.  The  pair  were  destined 
to  produce  a  vast  number  of  descendants,  no 


THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION.  139 

two  of  whom  would  be  duplicates,  each  varying 
in  some  respect  from  the  others. 

The  order  of  man,  presumably,  will  riot  be 
full  until  the  entire  number  of  individuals  is 
produced,  each  somewhat  different  from  the 
other ;  and  when  the  process  of  duplicating 
would  be  entered  upon  the  order  will  be  full, 
and  man's  destiny  as  a  race  on  earth  probably 
ended. 

Man  was  created  in  a  place  where  he  had 
plenty  of  fruit  for  food,  and  water  to  drink. 

And  the  Lord  planted  a  garden  eastward  in  Eden  ;  and 
there  he  put  the  man  whom  he  had  formed.  And  out  of 
the  ground  made  the  Lord  God  to  grow  every  tree  that 
is  pleasant  to  the  sight,  and  good  for  food  ;  the  tree  of 
life  also  in  the  midst  of  the  garden,  and  the  tree  of 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil.  And  a  river  went  out  of 
Eden  to  water  the  garden :  and  from  thence  it  was  parted 
and  became  into  four  heads. — Gen.,  2:8,  9,  10. 

He  was  informed  what  he  should  eat. 

And  God  said,  Behold,  I  have  given  you  every  herb 
bearing  seed,  which  i«  upon  the  face  of  all  the  earth,  and 
every  tree,  in  the  which  is  the  fruit  of  a  tree  yielding 
seed ;  to  you  it  shall  be  for  meat. — Gen.,  1:  29. 

And  the  Lord  God  commanded  the  man,  saying,  Of 
every  tree  of  the  garden  them  mayest  freely  eat. — Gen., 
2:  1G. 

Man  was  then  informed  that  it  was  the  des- 


140  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

tiny  of  the  race  to  multiply  and  to  subdue  the 
earth  and  cultivate  it. 

And  God  blessed  them,  and  God  said  unto  them,  Be 
fruitful  and  multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth,  and  sub- 
due it  :  and  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and 
over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  every  living  thing  that 
moveth  upon  the  earth. — Gem.,  1:  28. 

And  the  Lord  God  took  the  man,  and  put  him  into 
the  garden  of  Eden,  to  dress  it,  and  to  keep  it.  —  Gen. , 
2:  15. 

His  uncultivated  and  undeveloped  intellect 
was  given  a  lesson,  a  very  simple  lesson  at  first, 
and  the  intellectual  machinery  was  started  in 
motion. 

And  out  of  the  ground  the  Lord  God  formed  every 
beast  of  the  field,  and  every  fowl  of  the  air,  and  brought 
them  unto  Adam  to  see  what  he  would  call  them  ;  and 
whatsoever  Adam  called  every  living  creature,  that  was 
the  name  thereof.  And  Adam  gave  names  to  all  cattle, 
and  to  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  to  every  beast  of  the 
field ;  but  for  Adam  there  was  not  found  a  help  meet  for 
him.— Gen.,  2:  19,  20. 

With  that  simple  start,  God  left  that  ma- 
chinery, man's  intellect,  to  its  own  efforts,  to 
have  the  pleasure  of  progressing  on,  and  through 
all  the  discoveries  and  advancement  of  knowl- 
edge, until  it  has  reached  the  astonishing  de- 
velopment and  accumulated  knowledge  of  the 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  141 

nineteenth  century.  To  what  this  intellectual 
development  will  attain  can  only  be  dimly  in- 
ferred by  comparing  man's  present  intellectual 
condition  with  that  of  the  first  man. 

The  first  man,  being  wholly  ignorant  of  the 
law  of  cause  and  effect  in  the  moral,  intellectual, 
and  physical  world,  would  be  more  liable  to 
violate  that  law  according  to  which  he  must  at- 
tain enjoyment  than  he  would  be  to  obey  it. 
In  fact  the  reader  should  bear  in  mind  that 
there  is  only  one  right  or  proper  way  of  doing 
anything,  all  other  are  wrong  ways. 

Left  to  his  own  ignorance,  he  would  have 
many  chances  to  choose  the  wrong,  against  one 
chance  to  choose  the  right.  Since  the  Creator 
knew  all  these  laws,  it  was  proper  that  he 
should  reveal  them  as  occasion  required,  espe- 
cially those  laws  relating  to  the  proper  develop- 
ment of  man's  moral  nature.  It  was  a  first 
principle  in  this  plan  that  man  should  learn  to 
obey  whatever  God  communicated  to  him. 

One  source  of  enjoyment  for  the  human  race 
was  for  the  intellect  to  bave  the  pleasure  of  in- 
vestigating and  learning,  as  scientific  facts,  the 


142  THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION. 

philosophy  of  the  moral  laws,  as  well  as  the 
facts  in  the  purely  intellectual  world.  The  in- 
tellect was  to  have  the  pleasure  of  discovering 
and  learning  every  created  fact  or  established 
law. 

This  was  to  be  the  work  of  centuries  of 
patient  labor.  But  in  the  meantime  man  would 
be  violating  laws  that  were  daily  applicable  to 
the  growth  of  his  moral  faculties.  Hence,  as  it 
became  the  duty  of  a  benevolent  Creator  to  re- 
veal these  laws  to  man,  it  became  a  matter  of 
first  importance  that  man  should  learn  to  obey, 
whether  he  understood  the  reason  or  philosophy 
of  the  law  or  not. 

We  find  the  historical  facts  to  be  in  harmony 
with  these  views.  The  Creator  not  only  started 
the  intellectual  machinery  with  a  very  simple 
lesson,  but  preceded  it.  or  accompanied  it,  with 
a  lesson  in  obedience,  and  said:  "But  of  the  tree 
of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  thou  shalt 
not  eat." — Gen.,  2:  17.  This  was  a  very  simple 
lesson.  So  much  so  that  it  has  been  ridiculed 
as  absurd,  as  false  on  its  face,  and  improbable. 

Be  not  hasty  in  judging.     Remember  that  at 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  143 

the  time  this  command  was  given  man  was  in- 
tellectually a  child — an  ignorant  child.  A  com- 
mand on  some  important  law  relating  to  his 
moral  nature  could  not,  at  that  time,  have  been 
comprehended  by  the  first  man. 

Does  a  parent  now  try  to  teach  a  child,  one 
or  two  years  old,  or  younger,  a  lesson  in  obedi- 
ence by  announcing  to  it  a  prohibition  relating 
to  some  abstract  subject,  requiring  great  learn- 
ing and  experience  to  understand?  Rather 
does  not  the  parent  prohibit  some  little  thing 
—a  flower,  a  fruit,  a  spool  of  thread,  or  piece 
of  paper.  Such  a  lesson  the  infant  under- 
stands, and  learns  obedience. 

It  is  hard  to  conceive  of  a  more  appropriate 
and  efficient  manner  of  teaching  the  first  lesson 
in  obedience  to  the  first  man,  in  his  mental  in- 
fancy, than  the  manner  set  forth  in  the  Bible. 
Such  a  lesson  would  not  be  appropriate  to  a 
man  of  the  nineteenth  century,  with  the  usual 
knowledge  of  men  in  this  age.  It  would  not 
do  for  a  permanent  and  only  lesson  to  man,  and 
it  was  not  so  intended.  It  was  a  first  lesson. 
It  was  to  be  followed  up  by  other  lessons  of 


144  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

obedience  in  the  proper  time.  It  was  only  the 
first  letter  of  the  alphabet  of  lessons  in  obedi- 
ence, in  due  time  to  be  passed  by  and  other  les- 
sons taken  up.  Had  man  learned  this  lesson, 
and  obeyed,  and  continued  to  obey  each  revealed 
command  of  the  Creator,  no  doubt  the  succes- 
sive revelations  of  God  would  have  led  the  hu- 
man race  in  a  very  different  road  from  that  in 
which  it  has  wandered  for  the  last  few  thousand 
years. 

Undoubtedly  God  would  have  so  led  and  di- 
rected the  human  race  that  it  would  have 
traversed  a  pathway  free  from  many  or  all  of 
what  we  call  evils.  Under  His  leadership  man 
would  never  have  transgressed  a  single  law  of 
his  intellectual  or  moral  nature,  nor  any  part  of 
the  law  whereby  enjoyment  is  attained.  Just 
where  and  how  he  would  have  led  man  we  can 
not  tell.  But  he  would  have  led  him  aright,  ac- 
cording to  the  laws  which  he  has  established  in 
his  plan  from  the  beginning. 

Having  given  this  first  lesson  in  obedience, 
he  also  warned  man  as  to  what  would  be  the 
result  of  not  obeying.  That  is,  God  announced 


THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION.  145 

to  man,  that  if  he  attempted  to  guide  himself 
under  the  unknown  moral  laws,  which  his  in- 
tellect had  not  yet  discovered,  he  would  fail  ; 
that  he  would  transgress  these  laws  instead  of 
obeying  them.  Therefore,  God  said,  "In  the 
day  that  thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely 
die." — Gen.,  2:  17.  We  do  not  understand  that 
God  intended  to  kill  the  man  for  disobeying, 
but  that  if  he  commenced  to  substitute  his  own 
will  for  God's  guidance,  he  would,  through  igno- 
rance, violate  the  laws  according  to  which  he 
was  to  develop,  and  thereby  would  bring  upon 
himself  the  natural  consequences  flowing  there- 
from. 

Death  probably  was  a  natural  consequence  of 
violating  these  laws  ;  just  as  death  now  results 
under  the  law  of  gravitation  from  a  person  fall- 
ing over  a  precipice.  Death  in  this  latter  case 
is  not  a  penalty  inflicted.  It  is  the  result  of 
cause  and  effect.  So  death  probably  is  the  re- 
sult, the  natural  result,  of  violating  the  laws 
above  referred  to,  and  is  not  a  superadded  pen- 
alty. When  man  has  sufficiently  extended  his 
knowledge  and  discovers  the  laws,  yet  but  dim- 


146  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

ly  seen,  he  may  fully  understand  the  philosophy 
of  death  as  a  result  of  a  violation  of  such  laws. 

Man  may  yet  so  far  progress  in  knowledge, 
that  he  will  see  how  the  pathway  in  which  God 
would  have  led  him,  if  he  had  obeyed,  not  only 
the  first,  but  all  subsequent  commands,  would 
have  conducted  him  to  his  future  life  through 
a  way  other  than  through  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death. 

It  will  be  observed  that  God  only  reveals 
facts.  He  does  not  reveal  the  philosophy  or 
law  of  the  facts.  These  are  subjects  for  the  in- 
tellect to  investigate,  that  man  may  experience 
the  pleasure  of  learning,  as  heretofore  shown. 
Man  did  not  learn  the  lesson  of  obedience. 
Exercising  his  free  will,  he,  in  his  ignorance, 
made  a  mistake  and  disobeyed.  Having  dis- 
obeyed once  in  his  mental  infancy,  he  would 
see  no  reason  to  obey  any  other  command,  if  he 
did  not  at  once  feel  the  effects  of  disobedience, 
just  as  parents  now  punish  the  child  to  deter  it 
from  further  disobedience.  The  necessity  arises 
from  the  character  or  mental  characteristics  of 
the  race. 


THE    PLAN   OF   CREATION.  147 

The  account  shows  that  man  was  immediately 
made  to  realize  that  a  penalty  followed  disobe- 
dience. 

In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread,  till  thou 
return  unto  the  ground  ;  for  out  of  it  wast  thou  taken : 
for  dust  thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shalt  thou  return. 
—Gen.,  3:  19. 

Therefore  the  Lord  God  sent  him  forth  from  the  garden 
of  Eden  to  till  the  ground  from  whence  he  was  taken. 
So  he  drove  out  the  man:  and  he  placed  at  the  east  of 
the  garden  of  Eden  Cherubim,  and  a  flaming  sword 
which  turned  every  way,  to  keep  the  way  of  the  tree  of 
life.  —  Gen.,  3:  23,  24. 

During  the  early  history  of  the  first  man  he 
was  made  aware  of  the  existence  of  God. 

God  conversed  with  him  frequently,  and  thus 
taught  him  language.  See  Genesis,  chapters  1 
and  2. 

The  fact  that  the  soul  was  immortal  was  un- 
doubtedly revealed,  arid  distinctly  understood. 

But  of  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil, 
thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it:  for  in  the  day  that  thou  eatest 
thou  shalt  surely  die. — Gen.,  2: 17. 

If  he  did  not  eat,  he  would  not  die  ;  he  would 
continue  to  live. 

The  destiny  of  the  race  to  people  and  possess 
and  use  the  whole  earth  was  made  known. 


148  .        THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

And  God  blessed  them,  and  God  said  unto  them,  Be 
fruitful  and  multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth,  and  sub- 
due it:  and  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and 
over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  every  living  thing  that 
inoveth  upon  the  earth. —  Gen.,  1:  28. 

He  was  kept  under  the  special  care  and  in- 
struction of  the  Creator  during  his  whole  life 
on  earth.  See  Genesis,  chapters  1  to  5. 

The  foregoing  constitutes  all  we  have  that 
purports  to  be  testimony  or  history  on  this  part 
of  the  subject.  The  testimony,  therefore,  shows 
the  facts,  so  far  as  ascertained,  to  be  in  harmony 
with  the  plan  of  creation,  as  heretofore  pointed 
out.  We  have  no  evidence  of  a  contradictory 
character  on  the  subject. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

EVIDENCE  OF  A  GENERAL  REVELATION  FOR  THE   BENE- 
FIT OF  THE  ORDER  OF  MAN. 

What  evidence  is  there  that  a  revelation  has 
been  made  to  the  human  race  of  the  law  of  en- 
joyment, or  of  the  law  by  which,  and  in  accord- 
ance with  which,  enjoyment  is  attained?  Has 
any  revelation  been  made  of  the  leading  facts 
in  the  plan  of  creation,  such  as  would  properly 
be  revealed? 

Reserving  the  authenticity  of  the  Bible  for  a 
subsequent  chapter,  we  call  attention  to  its  con- 
tents. In  Genesis  it  appears  that  during  the 
early  history  of  the  race  revelations  to  man 
were  frequent,  and  were  generally  direct  conver- 
sations between  God  and  man.  These  conversa- 
tions were  of  course  more  or  less  handed  down 
as  traditions,,  and  were  fully  believed  for  a  long 
time,  and  by  many  even  to  the  present  day. 

Later,  and  as  man's  intellect  developed,  and 


150  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

as  writing  was  invented,  not  only  the  important 
parts  of  these  would  be  made  matter  of  record, 
but  additional  revelations,  suited  to  the  ad- 
vanced condition  of  the  intellect,  would  also 
be  written  and  preserved.  We  thus  find  from 
the  record  referred  to  (Genesis)  that  the  follow- 
ing facts  were  known  :  The  existence  of  God  ; 
the  immortality  of  the  soul ;  the  destiny  of  the 
human  race  to  people  the  earth  and  subdue  it, 
and  hold  dominion  over  it.  and  the  things  there- 
in ;  the  disobedience  of  the  first  man  ;  also  that 
God  would  in  some  way  assist  the  human  race 
to  overcome  the  injury  resulting  from  the  igno- 
rance of  man,  and  his  failure  to  obey  the  teach- 
ing of  God  in  the  garden. 

A  knowledge  of  these  things  seems  to  have 
been  handed  down  among  all  the  descendants 
of  the  first  pair.  In  some  cases  it  is  dim,  in 
others  vivid. 

According  to  the  plan  of  creation,  no  two  of 
the  human  race  would  be  duplicates,  or  exactly 
alike.  While  all  belonged  to  the  same  order  of 
man  yet  no  two  would  be  alike,  and  no  two 
would  have  descendants  exactly  alike.  In 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION.  151 

characteristics  they  would  vary.  God,  knowing 
the  end  from  the  beginning,  saw  that  in  the  or- 
der of  man,  Abraham  and  his  descendants  would 
most  accurately  keep  the  law  which  he  revealed, 
and  would  most  carefully  preserve  the  record 
of  his  revelation,  until  the  time  when  the  human 
intellect  was  sufficiently  developed,  so  that  the 
race  could  and  would  effectively  receive  and  re- 
tain the  revelations. 

Seeing  that  Abraham  shall  surely  become  a  great  and 
mighty  nation,  and  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  shall  be 
blessed  in  him.  For  I  know  him,  that  he  will  command 
his  children  and  his  household  after  him,  and  they  shall 
keep  the  way  of  the  Lord,  to  do  justice  and  judgment ; 
that  the  Lord  may  bring  upon  Abraham  that  which  he 
hath  spoken  of  him. — Gen.,  18:  18,  19. 

And  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be 
blessed;  because  thou  hast  obeyed  my  voice.  —  Gen., 
22:  18. 

Hence,  Abraham  and  his  descendants  were 
especially  chosen  to  bear  God's  revelations, 
down  to  the  future  generations  of  man. 

And  I  will  make  of  thee  a  great  nation,  and  I  will 
bless  tbee,  and  make  thy  name  great ;  and  thou  shalt  be 
a  blessing. — Gen.,  12:  2. 

And  he  brought  him  forth  abroad,  and  said,  Look  now 
toward  heaven,  and  tell  the  stars,  if  thou  be  able  to 
number  them  ;  and  he  said  unto  him,  So  shall  thy  seed 
be—  Gen.,  15:5. 


152  THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

And  I  will  make  my  covenant  between  me  and  thee, 
and  will  multiply  thee  exceedingly.  And  I  will  make 
thee  exceeding  fruitful ;  and  I  will  make  nations  of  thee, 
and  kings  shall  come  out  of  thee.  And  I  will  establish 
my  covenant  between  me  and  thee,  and  thy  seed  after 
thee  in  their  generations  for  an  everlasting  covenant  to 
be  a  God  unto  thee  and  to  thy  seed  after  thee. — Gen., 
17:2,6,  7. 

The  first  written  enunciation  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  that  were  to  be  obeyed  in 
letter  and  in  spirit  occurred  when  the  race  was 
some  two  thousand  years  old.  It  is  found  in 
Exodus,  20:  1-17. 

And  God  spake  all  these  words,  saying,  I  am  the  Lord 
thy  God  which  have  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage.  Thou  shalt  have 
no  other  Gods  before  me. 

Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee  any  graven  image,  or 
any  likeness  of  anything  that  is  in  heaven  above,  or  that 
is  in  the  earth  beneath,  or  that  is  in  the  water  under  the 
earth : 

Thou  shalt  not  bow  down  thyself  to  them,  nor  serve 
them:  for  I  the  Lord  thy  God  am  a  jealous  God,  visiting 
the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children  unto  the 
third  and  fourth  generation  of  them  that  hate  me  ; 

And  shewing  mercy  unto  thousands  of  them  that  love 
me,  and  keep  my  commandments. 

Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in 
vain  :  for  the  Lord  will  not  hold  him  guiltless  that  taketh 
his  name  in  vain. 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  153 

Eemember  the  sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy. 

Six  days  shalt  thou  labor,  and  do  all  thy  work: 

But  the  seventh  day  is-  the  sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy 
God,  in  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work,  thou,  nor  thy  son, 
nor  thy  daughter,  thy  man-servant,  nor  thy  maid-servant, 
nor  thy  cattle,  nor  thy  stranger  that  is  within  thy  gates: 

For  in  six  days  the  Lord  made  heaven  and  earth,  the 
sea,  and  all  that  in  them  is,  and  rested  the  seventh  day : 
wherefore  the  Lord  blessed  the  sabbath  day,  and  hallow- 
ed it. 

Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother :  that  thy  days  may 
be  long  upon  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth 
thee. 

Thou  shalt  not  kill. 

Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery. 

Thou  shalt  not  steal. 

Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against  thy  neighbor. 

Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbor's  house,  thou  shalt 
not  covet  thy  neighbor's  wife,  nor  his  man-servant,  nor 
his  maid-servant,  nor  his  ox,  nor  his  ass,  nor  anything 
that  is  thy  neighbor's. 

At  that  time  the  intellect  of  the  human  race 
was  comparatively  little  developed,  and  the  rev- 
elation was  proportionately  clear  and  simple. 
The  Jewish  ritual,  established  in  connection 
with  this  revelation,  and  the  historical  facts  re- 
cited in  Exodus,  were  well  calculated  to  keep 
alive  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  and  leaders, 
the  great  facts  revealed  and  historically  re- 
counted. As  the  intellect  of  this  people  be- 


154  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

came  more  developed,  we  find  farther  and  more 
minute  revelations  made  as  to  how  man  should 
act.  This  more  prominently  appears  in  Leviti- 
cus, wherein  the  purity  of  God's  nature  and  his 
requirements  of  purity  in  man,  are  more  fully 
stated.  All  this  requirement  of  purity,  and 
this  revelation,  tend  to  show  that  man,  in  order 
to  attain  the  greatest  enjoyment,  for  the  greatest 
time,  to  the  greatest  number,  with  the  least  in- 
jury to  the  few,  must  be  pure  ;  that  is,  must 
avoid  the  known  violation  of  the  law  of  en- 
joyment. It  is  revealed  that  love  must  be  the 
sole  motive  of  man's  actions  to  God,  to  man, 
and  to  beast. 

Throughout  Numbers  the  same  ideas  are  im- 
pressed, and  further  elaborated.  From  the  his- 
torical facts  therein  recited,  in  chapter  16,  it 
was  further  established  that  the  plan  of  creation, 
as  applicable  to  man,  could  not,  and  should  not, 
be  thwarted  by  man's  acts. 

Deuteronomy  comes  later  in  the  history  of 
the  race,  and  at  a  time  when  the  intellect  was 
much  more  developed.  The  accumulated  ex- 
perience and  knowledge  of  the  race,  and  espe- 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  155 

ciully  of  this  tribe,  fitted  it  to  receive  more  fully 
this  revelation.  The  social  relations  had  be- 
come more  complicated.  In  pursuance  of  the 
plan  of  creation,  that  no  two  persons  should  be 
alike  or  duplicates,  there  had  arisen  a  greater 
variety  of  mental  and  moral  faculties.  The 
members  of  the  race  had  also  vastly  increased, 
forming  many  other  nations. 

The  Lord  your  God  hath  multiplied  you,  and  behold, 
ye  are  this  day  as  the  stars  of  heaven  for  multitude. 
The  Lord  God  of  your  fathers  make  you  a  thousand 
times  so  many  more  as  ye  are,  and  bless  you  as  he  hath 
promised  you. — Deuteronomy,  1:  10,  11. 

In  accordance  with  this  changed  and  advanced 
condition  of  the  human  race,  we  find  a  more 
complete  revelation  of  the  law  of  enjoyment, 
or  the  law  by  which  the  greatest  enjoyment 
would  be  attained  by  the  greatest  number,  for 
the  greatest  length  of  time,  with  the  least  in- 
jury to  the  fewest  individuals. 

Deuteronomy  contains  a  revelation  applicable 
to  all  these  new  and  complicated  social  relations. 
It  lays  down  laws  and  principles  that  have  never 
been  improved  upon  by  any  nation  or  people 
in  any  code  of  laws.  In  chapter  28  is  announced, 


156  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

in  unmistakable  terms,  the  result  of  obedience 
and  disobedience  to  the  laws  of  man's  existence 
and  development.  The  whole  book  of  Deuter- 
onomy is  a  most  remarkable  enunciation  of  the 
laws  referred  to,  and  of  the  necessity  of  obedi- 
ence, as  exemplified  by  the  preceding  history 
of  the  tribe.  See  Deut.,  chapters  29  to  32. 

In  these  chapters  is  recounted  to  the  people 
their  past  history,  and  the  past  care  of  them  by 
God.  They  are  warned  as  to  the  future,  and 
charged  to  keep  the  revealed  law.  They  are 
further  informed  that  if  they  do  not  that  they 
will  be  punished,  or  that  they  will  bring  suffer- 
ing upon  themselves. 

In  all  the  foregoing  books  of  the  Bible  is 
revealed  the  fact  that  God  will  forgive  the 
transgression  of  man,  if  man  repents.  This  is 
especially  set  forth  in  Ezek.,  18:20-32;  33: 
12-19,  as  follows: 

The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die.  The  son  shall  not 
bear  the  iniquity  of  the  father,  neither  shall  the  father 
bear  the  iniquity  of  the  son:  the  righteousness  of  the 
righteous  shall  be  upon  him,  and  the  wickedness  of  the 
wicked  shall  be  upon  him. 

But  if  the  wicked  will  turn  from  all  his  sins  that  he 
hath  committed.,  and  keep  all  my  statutes,  and  do  that 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  157 

which  is  lawful  and  right,  he  shall  surely  live,  he  shall 
not  die. 

All  his  transgressions  that  he  hath  committed,  they 
shall  not  be  mentioned  unto  him:  in  his  righteousness 
that  he  hath  done  he  shall  live. 

Have  I  any  pleasure  at  all  that  the  wicked  should  die  ? 
saith  the  Lord  God:  and  not  that  he  should  return  from 
his  ways,  and  live  ? 

But  when  the  righteous  turneth  away  from  his  right- 
eousness, and  committeth  iniquity,  and  doeth  according 
to  all  the  abominations  that  the  wicked  man  doeth,  shall 
he  live  ?  All  his  righteousness  that  he  hath  done  shall 
not  be  mentioned:  in  his  trespass  that  he  hath  trespassed, 
and  in  his  sin  that  he  hath  sinned,  in  them  shall  he  die. 

Yet,  ye  say,  The  way  of  the  Lord  is  not  equal.  Hear 
now,  O  house  of  Israel.  Is  not  my  way  equal  ?  are  not 
your  ways  unequal  ? 

When  a  righteous  man  turneth  away  from  his  right- 
eousness, and  committeth  iniquity,  and  dieth  in  them  ; 
for  his  iniquity  that  he  hath  done  shall  he  die. 

Again,  when  the  wicked  man  turneth  away  from  his 
wickedness  that  he  hath  committed,  and  doeth  that 
which  is  lawful  and  right,  he  shall  save  his  soul  alive. 

Because  he  considereth,  and  turneth  away  from  all  his 
transgressions  that  he  hath  committed,  he  shall  surely 
live,  he  shall  not  die. 

Yet  saith  the  house  of  Israel,  The  way  of  the  Lord  is 
not  equal.  O  house  of  Israel,  are  not  my  ways  equal ; 
are  not  your  ways  unequal  ? 

Therefore  I  will  judge  you,  O  house  of  Israel,  every 
one  according  to  his  ways,  saith  the  Lord  God.  Kepent 
and  turn  yourselves  from  all  your  transgressions  ;  so  in- 
iquity shall  not  be  your  ruin. 


158  THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION. 

Cast  away  from  you  all  your  transgressions,  whereby 
ye  have  transgressed :  and  make  you  a  new  heart  and  a 
new  spirit:  for  why  will  ye  die,  O  house  of  Israel  ? 

For  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  him  that  dieth, 
saith  the  Lord  God  :  wherefore  turn  yourselves,  and 
live  ye 

Therefore,  thou  son  of  man,  say  unto  the  children  of 
thy  people,  The  righteousness  of  the  righteous  shall  not 
deliver  him  in  the  day  of  his  transgression :  as  for  the 
wickedness  of  the  wicked,  he  shall  not  fall  thereby  in 
the  day  that  he  turneth  from  his  wickedness ;  neither 
shall  the  righteous  be  able  to  live  for  his  righteousness  in 
the  day  that  he  sinneth. 

When  I  shall  say  to  the  righteous,  that  he  shall  surely 
live;  if  he  trust  to  his  own  righteousness,  and  commit 
iniquity,  all  his  righteousnesses  shall  not  be  remembered; 
but  for  his  iniquity  that  he  hath  committed,  he  shall  die 
for  it. 

Again,  when  I  say  unto  the  wicked,  Thou  shalt  surely 
die;  if  he  turn  from  his  sin,  and  do  that  which  is  lawful 
and  right  ; 

If  the  wicked  restore  the  pledge,  give  again  that  he 
had  robbed,  walk  in  the  statutes  of  life,  without  commit- 
ting iniquity;  he  shall  surely  live,  he  shall  not  die. 

None  of  his  sins  that  he  hath  committed  shall  be  men- 
tioned unto  him :  he  hath  done  that  which  is  lawful  and 
right;  he  shall  surely  live. 

Yet  the  children  of  thy  people  say,  The  way  of  the 
Lord  is  not  equal  :  but  as  for  them,  their  way  is  not 
qual. 

When  the  righteous  turneth  from  his  righteousness, 
and  committeth  iniquity,  he  shall  even  die  thereby. 


TIIE    PLAN    OF   CREATION.  159 

But  if  the  wicked  turn  from  his  wickedness,  and  do 
that  which  is  lawful  and  right,  he  shall  live  thereby. 

It  is  further  revealed  that  by  prayer  man  will 
be  facilitated  in  attaining  enjoyment. 

That  thine  eyes  may  be  open  toward  this  house  night 
and  day,  even  toward  the  place  of  which  thou  hast  said, 
My  name  shall  be  there  ;  that  thou  mayest  hearken  unto 
the  prayer  which  thy  servant  shall  make  toward  this 
place.— 1  Kings,  8:  29.  See  also,  45  to  52. 

O  thou  that  nearest  prayer,  unto  thee  shall  all  flesh 
come. — Psa.,  65:  2. 

He  will  regard  the  prayer  of  the  destitute,  and  not 
despise  their  prayer.  This  shall  be  written  for  the  gen- 
eration to  come :  and  the  people  which  shall  be  created 
shall  praise  the  Lord.  — Psa.,  102:17,  18.  See  also, 
Prov.y  15:  8. 

The  Lord  is  far  from  the  wicked :  but  He  heareth  the 
prayer  of  the  righteous. — Prov.,  15:  29. 

Love  as  the  motive  of  all  acts  is  set  forth  as 

the  whole  law. 

And  thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 
heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  might. 
And  now,  Israel,  what  doth  the  Lord  thy 
God  require  of  thee,  but  to  fear  the  Lord  thy  God,  to 
walk  in  all  his  ways,  and  to  love  him,  and  to  serve  the 
Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart  and  with  all  thy  soul. 
To  keep  the  commandments  of  the  Lord,  and  his  statutes, 
which  I  command  thee  this  day  for  thy  good  ? — Deut. , 
6:  5;  10:  12.  See  also  Deal.,  30:  6. 

The  disciples  proclaimed  the  same  divine 
law. 


160  THE    PLAN   OF    CREATION. 

Love  worketh  no  ill  to  his  neighbor:  therefore  love  is 
the  fulfilling  of  the  law.- .Rom.,  13:  10. 

For  all  the  law  is  fulfilled  in  one  word,  even  in  this, 
Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself. — Gal.,  5:  14. 

If  ye  fulfill  the  royal  law  according  to  the  scripture, 
Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,  ye  do  well. — 
Jas.,  2:  8. 

By  this  law  the  greatest  enjoyment,  for  the 
greatest  time,  to  the  greatest  number,  with  the 
least  suffering  to  the  fewest  individuals,  is  at- 
tained. 

It  is  clearly  set  forth  that  this  life  is  but  the 
beginning,  and  is  preparatory  to  future  exist- 
ence; and  that  it  shall  be  well  with  those  in 
the  future  state  who  live  according  to  this  law. 
It  is  with  equal  clearness  announced  that  it  will 
not  be  well  with  those  who  do  not  so  live. 

Because  sentence  against  an  evil  work  is  not  executed 
speedily,  therefore  the  heart  of  the  sons  of  men  is  fully 
set  in  them  to  do  evil.  Though  a  sinner  do  evil  a  hun- 
dred times,  and  his  days  be  prolonged,  yet  surely  I  know- 
that  it  shall  be  well  with  them  that  fear  God,  which  fear 
before  him  :  But  it  shall  not  be  well  with  the  wicked, 
neither  shall  he  prolong  his  days,  which  are  as  a  shadow; 
because  he  feareth  not  before  God. — EccL,  8: 11,  12,  13. 

In  other  words,  it  is  set  forth  clear  as  the  sun 
at  noonday,  that  those  who  live  according  to 
this  law,  will  attain  to  the  greatest  enjoyment, 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  161 

and  that  those  who  live  in  violation  of  this  law, 
will  not  attain  that  enjoyment.  Transgression 
of  the  law  is  called  sin,  and  is  always  described 
.as  attended  with  suffering,  to  a  great  or  less  ex- 
tent. 

The  intention  with  which  an  act  is  done  in 
all  cases  constitutes  the  moral  offense.  The 
fact  is  revealed  that  where  man  transgresses  the 
law  intentionally,  and  upon  reflection  sees  that 
it  is  wrong,  and  regrets  it,  with  a  desire  to  do 
it  no  more,  and  resolves  not  again  to  commit 
the  act,  and  asks  God  to  forgive  him,  that  God 
will  forgive,  and  thereby  save  the  man  from  the 
suffering  consequent  upon  his  transgression  of 
the  law. 

The  connection  between  cause  and  effect,  ac- 
cording to  a  fixed  law,  would  not  in  many  of 
the  matters  revealed  be  known  by  man  at  the 
time  of  the  revelation.  Hence  they  would  have 
to  be  accepted  as  a  matter  of  faith.  The  knowl- 
edge of  the  connection  between  cause  and  effect 
is  a  matter  of  apprehension  by  the  intellect. 
The  plan  of  creation  contemplates  that  all  such 
matters  shall  be  left  for  the  intellect  to  discover. 


162  THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION. 

As  the  intellectual  development  of  the  race 
progresses,  it  will  gradually  discover  this  con- 
nection between  cause  and  effect  in  the  matter 
revealed. 

When  sufficient  had  been  revealed,  and  made 
matter  of  record,  then  revelation  ceased.  As 
the  years  passed  by,  and  the  authentication  of 
the  records  became  matter  of  history,  and  of 
memorials,  doubts  arose  in  the  human  mind. 
Man  constantly  transgressed  the  law.  He  asked, 
Is  it  possible,  even  if  assisted  by  God,  to  live  as 
required  by  this  revelation?  Can  God  cause 
the  dead  to  live?  And  is  the  soul  immortal? 
Are  the  things  revealed  true?  Does  God  care 
for  these  atoms  of  humanity? 

These  doubts  grew  until  they  possessed  nearly 
the  whole  race.  Even  the  Jews,  who  had  been 
from  the  first  as  a  tribe  witnesses  of  the  evi- 
dence of  these  revelations,  had  begun  seriously 
to  doubt  on  these  points.  The  book  of  Job 
shows  the  doubt  existing  in  his  day.  When  the 
proper  time  arrived,  the  great  demonstration  of 
these  things  was  given,  and  the  law  announced 
anew,  and  illustrated  in  the  life  and  teachings 
of  Christ. 


THE   PLAN   OF    CREATION.  163 

It  is  recorded  that  God  took  upon  himself 
the  form  and  body  of  a  man,  lived  and  talked 
with  man,  was  tempted  and  afflicted  as  men 
usually  are,  and  that  His  human  nature, 
strengthened  by  His  divinity,  was  sufficiently 
strong  to  live  without  transgressing  the  law, 
thus  demonstrating  to  man  that  human  nature, 
aided  by  God,  could  live  in  accordance  with  the 
revealed  law. 

This  Being  also  raised  the  dead  to  life.  He 
passed  through  what  we  call  death  and  arose 
again,  thus  demonstrating  that  death  was  neither 
annihilation,  nor  all  powerful  over  life.  He 
also  re-announced  that  love  was  the  fulfilling  of 
the  law. 

Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God,  with  all  thy  heart, 
and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  might,  and  thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  On  these  hang  all 
the  laws  and  the  prophets.—  Matt.,  22:  37-40;  Mark, 
12:30-33. 

These  clear  enunciations  of  the  law,  by  which 
the  greatest  enjoyment  to  the  greatest  number  is 
attained,  were  by  Christ  repeatedly  announced, 
as  applicable  to  special  circumstances  and  times, 
and  illustrated  by  many  sayings  and  parables. 


164  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.' 

He  also  clearly  announced  that  transgressions 
of  the  law  when  repented  of  would  be  forgiven 
by  God  ;  that  living  according  to  the  revealed 
law  would  result  in  the  greatest  enjoyment. 

Then  shall  the  King  say  unto  them  on  his  right  hand, 
Coine,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom 
prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world. — 
Matt.,  25:34. 

That  transgressing  the  law  would  result  in 
suffering. 

Then  shall  he  say  also  unto  them  on  the  left  hand, 
Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  prepared 
for  the  devil  and  his  angels. — Matt.,  25:  41. 

And  these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment, 
but  the  righteous  into  life  eternal. — Malt. ,  25 :  46. 

It  is  revealed  that  transgressing  the  law  of 
development,  or  the  law  of  enjoyment,  is  sin. 

Whosoever  committeth  sin,  transgresseth  the  law,  for 
sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law. — 1  John,  3:  4. 

The  revelations  herein  referred  to  constitute 
only  a  part,  being  limited  to  the  revelation  of 
the  more  general  and  essential  principles.  Space 
will  not  admit  of  a  reference  to  all  the  minor 
and  specific  revelations  in  harmony  with  the 
general  ones. 

It  is  to   be  observed  that  these  revelations 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION.  165 

were  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  times  and  cir- 
cumstances when  they  were  given,  and  were 
specially  adapted,  or  suited,  to  the  intellectual 
development  of  the  race  at  the  time  they  oc- 
curred. 

Christ's  life  and  teachings  would  have  been 
out  of  place  in  Adam's  day  ;  but  they  were  well 
suited  to  the  developed  intellect,  mature  expe- 
rience, and  social  condition  of  the  age  when 
they  occurred.  The  simple  command  to  Adam 
not  to  eat  the  fruit  from  a  certain  tree  would 
have  been  out  of  place  and  absurd  in  Christ's 
day.  But  it  was  just  such  a  command,  to  de- 
velop obedience,  as  was  needed  for  Adam  in 
his  intellectual  infancy.  A  beautiful,  highly- 
colored,  luscious  apple  was  a  thing  he  would 
first  want,  and  daily  want,  and  desire  to  have  ; 
hence  it  was  the  thing  appropriate  in  his  early 
days  to  develop  his  obedience.  A  command  to 
him  not  to  kill,  not  to  steal,  not  to  bear  false 
witness,  etc.,  would  have  been  out  of  place,  for 
he  would  have  no  occasion  to  do  any  of  those 
things. 

The  foregoing  matters  relate  to  the  moral 


166  THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 

nature  directly.  In  addition  to  them  there 
have  been  revealed  a  class  of  facts  that  more 
properly  relate  to  the  intellect.  That  is,  they 
are  facts  of  intellectual  apprehension,  but  are 
collaterally  important  to  the  moral  questions 
revealed. 

In  the  preceding  part  of  this  chapter  we  have 
considered  the  revelation  of  the  law  by  which 
enjoyment  is  to  be  attained,  with  incidental 
notice  of  some  subjects  closely  connected 
therewith.  They  embrace  a  class  of  subjects 
which  the  intellect  could  not  discover,  and  for 
the  want  of  such  knowledge  the  race  would 
be  constantly  and  forever  violating  those  laws, 
and  incurring  the  suffering  naturally  resulting 
therefrom.  In  addition  to  and  closely  con- 
nected with  them  is  a  certain  class  of  facts 
of  a  scientific  character  which  are  apprehended 
by  the  intellect  as  facts  in  nature.  They  are 
of  such  a  character  that  the  intellect  does  not, 
and  can  not,  readily  discover  their  existence. 
As  primary  causes  they  existed  far  back  in  the 
past,  and  can  only  be  discovered  by  a  long 
scientific  investigation  of  the  chain  of  effects 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION.  167 

# 

from  that  time  down  to  the  present.  In  point 
of  time  they  existed  long  before  man  was  on 
the  earth,  and  he  has  no  history  thereof,  except 
such  as  is  recorded  in  the  great  book  of  God  to 
his  created  intelligences — the  material  universe 
and  its  laws.  To  read  this  book  to  such  an  ex- 
tent requires  vast  experience,  accumulated  ob- 
servations, and  high  intellectual  'development. 

The  following  facts  belonging  to  this  class 
have  been  revealed: 

The  existence  of  a  God  and  that  he  is  eternal. 

The  eternal  God  is  thy  refuge,  and  underneath  are  the 
everlasting  arms.  —  Deut.,  33:  27. 

Before  the  mountains  were  brought  forth,  or  ever  thou 
hadst  formed  the  earth  and  the  world,  even  from  ever- 
lasting to  everlasting,  thou  art  God.  .  .  .  For  a 
thousand  years  in  thy  sight  are  but  as  yesterday  when  it 
is  past,  and  as  a  watch  in  the  night. — Psa.,  £0:  2,  4.  See 
Rev.,  4:8-11. 

That  He  is  omnipotent. 

And  when  Abram  was  ninety  years  old  and  nine,  the 
Lord  appeared  to  Abram,  and  said  unto  him,  I  am  the 
Almighty  God ;  walk  before  me  and  be  thou  perfect.— 
Gen.,  17:1.  See  Exodus,  6:  3. 

Unchanging. 

They  shall  perish,  but  thou  shalt  endure:  yea,  all  of 
them  shall  wax  old,  like  a  garment ;  as  a  vesture  shalt 


168  THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION. 

thou  change  them,  and  they  shall  be  changed:  But  them 
art  the  same,  and  thy  years  shall  have  no  end. — Psa.t 
102:  26,  27. 

Wherein  God,  willing  more  abundantly  to  show  unto 
the  heirs  of  promise  the  immutability  of  his  counsel, 
confirmed  it  by  an  oath. — Heb.,  6:  17. 

Every  good  gift  and  every  perfect  gift  is  from  above, 
and  corneth  down  from  the  Father  of  lights,  with  whom 
is  no  variableness,  neither  shadow  of  turning. — James, 
1:17. 

Omniscient. 

O  Lord,  thou  hast  searched  me  and  known  me.  Thou 
knowest  my  down- sitting  and  mine  up-rising,  thou  un~ 
derstandest  my  thought  afar  off.  Thou  compassest  my 
path  and  my  lying  down,  and  art  acquainted  with  all  my 
ways.  For  there  is  not  a  word  in  my  tongue,  but  lo,  O 
Lord,  thou  knowest  it  altogether.  Thou  hast  beset  me 
behind  and  before,  and  laid  thine  hand  upon  me.  Such 
knowledge  is  too  wonderful  for  me  ;  it  is  high,  I  can  not 
attain  unto  it.—  Psa.,  139:  1-6.  See  Prov.,  5:  21 

Omnipresent. 

Do  not  I  fill  heaven  and  earth,  saith  the  Lord. — Jer.t 
23:24. 

Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy  spirit  ?  or  whither  shall  I 
flee  from  thy  presence?  If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven, 
thou  art  there:  If  I  make  my  bed  in  hell,  behold,  thou 
art  there,  ffl  take  the  wings  of  the  morning,  and  dwell 
in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea ;  even  there  shall  thy 
hand  lead  ma,  and  thy  right  hand  shall  hold  me.  If  I 
say,  Surely  the  darkness  shall  cover  me  ;  even  the  night 
shall  be  light  about  me.  Yea,  the  darkness  hideth  not 
from.thee ;  but  the  night  shineth  as  the  day:  the  dark- 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  169 

ness  and  the  light  are  both  alike  to  thee. — Psa.,  139:  7-12. 
See  Jer.,  23:23,  24. 

The  only  God. 

Unto  thee  it  was  shewed,  that  thou  mightest  know  that 
the  Lord  he  is  God:  there  is  none  else  beside  him. — 
Deut.,  4:  35. 

Thus  saith  the  Lord  the  King  of  Israel,  and  his  Re- 
deemer the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  I  am  the  first,  and  I  am  the 
last ;  and  beside  me  there  i^  no  God.  ...  Is  there 
a  God  beside  me?  yea,  there  is  no  God;  I  know  not  any. 
—Isa.,  44:  6,  8. 

Before  me  there  was  no  God  formed,  neither  shall 
there  be  after  me. — Isa.,  43:  10. 

Of  free  and  irresistible  will. 
And  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  are  reputed  as 
nothing:  and  he  doeth  according  to  his  will  in  the  army 
of  heaven,  and  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth:  and 
none  can  stay  his  hand,  or  say  unto  him,  What  doest 
thou?— Dan.,  4:  35.  See  Job,  38:  33. 

That  He  controls  nature. 

Thus  saith  the  Lord,  which  giveth  the  sun  for  a  light 
by  day,  and  the  ordinances  of  the  moon  and  of  the  stars 
for  a  light  by  night,  which  divideth  the  sea  when  the 
waves  thereof  roar ;  the  Lord  of  hosts  is  his  name. — 
Jer.,  31:35. 

Thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  if  my  covenant  be  not  with  day 
and  night,  and  if  I  have  not  appointed  the  ordinances  of 
heaven  and  earth. — Jer.,  33:  25. 

That  He  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth, 
and  all  things  therein. 


170  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

Thou,  even  them,  art  Lord  alone  ;  thou  hast  made 
heaven,  the  heaven  of  heavens,  with  all  their  host,  the 
earth,  and  all  things  that  are  therein,  the  seas,  and  all 
that  is  therein,  and  thou  preservest  them  all ;  and  the 
host  of  heaven  worshippeth  thee. — Ntth.  ,9:6.  Gen.,  1 : 1. 

By  the  word  of  the  Lord  were  the  heavens  made  ;  and 
all  the  host  of  them  by  the  breath  of  his  mouth. 
For  he  spake,  and  it  was  done;  he  commanded,  and  it 
stood  fast.— Psa.,  33:  6,  9. 

Thus  saith  God  the  Lord,  he  that  created  the  heavens, 
and  stretched  them  out ;  he  that  spread  forth  the  earth, 
and  that  which  cometh  out  of  it. — Isa.,  42:  5.  See  Eeb., 
3:4;  Rev.,  4:  11. 

That  God  is  the  source  of  life. 
For  with  thee  is  the  fountain  of  life :  in  thy  light  shall 
we  see  light.— Psa.,  36:  9.     Isa.,  42:  5. 

That  the  soul  is  immortal. 

Who  knoweth  the  spirit  of  man  that  goeth  upward, 
and  the  spirit  of  the  beast  that  goeth  downward  to  the 
earth?— EccL,  3:  21. 

Then  shall  the  dust  return  to  the  earth  as  it  was ;  and 
the  spirit  shall  return  unto  God  who  gave  it. — Eccl.t 
12:7. 

And  fear  not  them  which  kill  the  body,  but  are  not 
able  to  kill  the  soul :  but  rather  fear  him  which  is  able  to 
destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  hell. — Matt.,  10:  28. 

Neither  can  they  die  any  more :  for  they  are  equal  unto 
the  angels ;  and  are  the  children  of  God,  being  the  chil- 
dren of  the  resurrection. — Luke,  20 :  36. 

And  I  give  unto  them  eternal  life  ;  and  they  shall 
never  perish,  neither  shall  any  pluck  them  out  of  my 
hand.— John,  10:28. 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION.        •  171 

For  this  corruptible  must  put  on  incorruption,  and 
this  mortal  must  put  on  immortality.  —  1  Cor.t  15:  53. 
See  also  2  Tim.t  1:  10. 

That  the  future  existence  is  one  of  enjoyment 
or  of  suffering. 

And  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes  ; 
and  there  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow,  nor 
crying",  neither  shall  there  be  any  more  pain:  for  the 
former  things  are  passed  away. — Rev.,  21:  4. 

And  there  shall  be  no  night  there  ;  and  they  need  no 
candle,  neither  light  of  the  sun ;  for  the  Lord  God 
giveth  them  light:  and  they  shall  reign  for  ever  and 
ever.— Rev.,  22:5. 

And  these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment: 
but  the  righteous  into  life  eternal. — Matt.,  25:  46. 

An  outline  history  of  the  facts  or  order  of 
creation  is  given.  See  Gen.,  1: 1-31  ;  2:  1-4. 

It  is  also  revealed  that  the  present  order  of 
the  universe  is  not  stable,  but  that  it  shall  pass 
away  and  be  changed. 

Lift  up  your  eyes  to  the  heavens,  and  look  upon  the 
earth  beneath,  for  the  heavens  shall  vanish  away  like 
smoke,  and  the  earth  shall  wax  old  like  a  garment. — Isa.t 
51:6. 

And  all  the  hosts  of  heaven  shall  be  dissolved,  and  the 
heavens  shall  be  rolled  together  as  a  scroll :  and  all  their 
host  shall  fall  down  as  the  leaf  falleth  off  from  the  Tine, 
and  as  a  falling jfigr  from  the  fig-tree. — Isa.,  34:  4. 

It  is  further  revealed  what  shall  come  after 


172  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

this  change  ;   and  that  there  shall  be  evolved 
new  heavens  and  new  earths. 

For  behold,  I  create  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth : 
and  the  former  shall  not  be  remembered,  nor  come  into 
mind. — Isa.,  65:  17. 

For  as  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth,  which  I 
will  make,  shall  remain  before  me. — Isa.,  66:  22. 

And  I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth:  for  the  first 
heaven  and  the  first  earth  were  passed  away. — Rev. ,  21 : 1. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing,  many  other  facts 
are  either  expressly  or  impliedly  revealed. 

These  accounts,  therefore,  show  that  the 
human  race  is  in  possession  of  a  knowledge  of 
such  laws  and  facts  as  would  in  pursuance  of 
the  plan  of  creation  be  revealed. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

EVIDENCE    THAT    AUTHENTICATES   THIS    REVELATION. 

A  revelation,  such  as  we  have  referred  to, 
would  not  only  be  properly  authenticated  at 
the  time  it  was  given,  to  convince  those  who 
received  it,  but  evidence  would  be  given  of  such 
a  character  that  it  would  be  a  perpetual  proof 
to  all  generations.  Such  evidence  we  find  in 
this  case,  and  it  is  adapted  in  every  instance  to 
the  intellectual  development  of  the  race  at  the 
time  it  was  given.  Direct  revelation  from  God, 
miracles,  prophecy,  and  the  character  of  the 
facts  revealed,  constitute  the  evidence. 

During  the  early  history  of  the  race  revela- 
tion was  by  direct  conversation  with  God. 

And  God  said  unto  them  (Adam). — Gen.,  1:  28,  29. 

And  the  Lord  God  commanded  the  man.  —  Gen., 
2:16-18. 

And  they  heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord  God,  etc. — 
Gen.,  3:  8-19. 

And  the  Lord  said  unto  Cain. — Gen.,  4:  6,  9. 


174  THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 

And  God  said  unto  Noah.  —  Gen.,  6:  13. 
And  the  Lord  appeared  unto  Abram  and  said. — Gen., 
12  :  17. 

Yery  many  other  instances  occur,  as  recorded 
in  the  Bible. 

This  was  the  most  appropriate  evidence  for 
man  in  his  early  history,  while  the  intellect  was 
yet  undeveloped.  Neither  miracle  nor  prophecy 
could  have  been  understood  at  that  time.  The 
rising  and  the  setting  of  the  sun  would  be  as 
great  a  miracle  to  Adam,  during  the  first  days 
of  his  life,  as  it  would  be  for  him  to  see  a  river 
of  water  burn  up.  To  see  an  animal  in  deep 
sleep,  and  then  awaken,  would  to  him  at  first 
be  as  miraculous  as  to  see  a  dead  animal  brought 
to  life. 

A  miracle  is  an  event  that  occurs  contrary  to, 
or  not  in  accordance  with,  any  known  law  of 
nature.  For  a  miracle  to  be  evidence,  implies 
in  the  beholder  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of 
nature  on  that  subject.  This  knowledge  is  a 
matter  of  experience,  observation,  and  of  in- 
tellectual acquirement. 

What  did  Adam  know  of  the  laws  of  nature 
at  first?  How  could  he  distinguish  a  miracle, 


THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION.  175 

or  that  any  event  was,  or  was  not,  in  accord- 
ance with  some  law  of  nature? 

Of  course  he  and  his  descendants,  by  daily  ex- 
perience and  observations,  soon  saw  that  some 
things  occurred  in  succession  or  rotation,  but 
the  changing  of  the  seasons,  growth  and  decay 
of  fruits,  flowers,  and  animals,  soon  showed 
that  all  was  marked  with  change.  What  change 
would  occur  next  they  could  not  tell.  Hence 
a  miracle  could  not  have  been  distinguished  by 
them  from  any  one  of  the  changing,  mysterious 
phenomena  that  were  daily  occurring.  A  mira- 
cle would,  therefore,  be  to  them  no  evidence  to 
support  a  revelation. 

Prophecy  would  to  them  equally  fail  as  evi- 
dence. The  proof  of  prophecy  is  a  thing  oc- 
curring in  the  future,  and  requires  knowledge 
and  experience  to  distinguish  it  from  ordinary 
affairs.  The  statement  to  Adam  the  first  day 
he  lived,  that  on  the  next  day  he  would  be 
hungry,  would  be  to  him  a  prophecy;  so  would 
the  statement  that  the  sun  would  continue  to 
rise  and  set,  or  that  the  fruit-  and  flowers  would 
re -appear  in  season.  Prophecies  not  fulfilled 


176  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

in  his  day  would  be  no  evidence  to  him. 
Prophecies  fulfilled  in  the  lifetime  of  the  first 
members  of  the  race  would  be  of  little  weight, 
owing  to  the  changing  nature  of  all  that  was 
surrounding  them.  For  want  of  knowledge 
they  were  unable  to  determine  between  the  ful- 
fillment of  a  prophecy  and  any  regular  event 
occurring  in  longer  or  shorter  periods  of  time. 
They  could  not  distinguish  the  foretelling  of  an 
eclipse  from  a  prophecy.  To  test  this  state- 
ment let  the  reader  take  a  child  who  has  never 
seen  an  eclipse,  and  tell  it  that  on  a  given  day 
and  hour  one  year  thereafter  the  sun  will  ap- 
pear black,  and  darkness  will  come  over  the 
earth  at  noonday.  Also,  tell  the  child  that  on 
a  given  day  and  hour,  at  a  given  place,  a  train 
of  cars  will  run  off  the  track,  and  that  a  man, 
giving  his  name,  will  be  killed  by  the  accident, 
and  that  no  one  else  will  be  injured.  Let  both 
of  the  above  events  occur  in  the  presence  of 
the  child.  Which  would  be  by  it  considered  a 
prophecy?  If  not  both,  would  not  the  eclipse 
be  the  more  impressive  event?  Would  it  not 
to  the  child  be  more  satisfactory  proof  of  some- 


THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION.  177 

thing  supernatural,  than  restoring  sight  to  the 
blind,  or  hearing  to  the  deaf? 

Therefore  miracles  and  prophecies  would  not 
be  satisfactory  proof  of  a  revelation  to  the  first 
members  of  the  human  race.  A  direct  commu- 
nication from  God  would  be  the  best.  God, 
who  created  man  with  all  his  mental  faculties 
and  organs  for  receiving  communications,  could 
so  communicate  with  man  that  he  would  know 
that  God  spoke.  His  fellow  man  might  doubt 
that  a  communication  had  been  received,  but 
the  one  receiving  it  could  not  doubt. 

This  plan  of  direct  communication  com- 
menced with  Adam,  and  continued  without 
miracles  about  2,200  years  down  to  the  time  of 
Jacob.  God  spoke  to  Adam.  See  Gen.,  1 :  25, 
29  ;  2:  16-18;  3:  8,  19.  To  Cain.— Gen.,  4:  6, 
7,  9.  To  Enoch.  — Gen.,  5:  24.  To  Noah.- 
Gen.,  6:  13-17;  7:  1.  To  Abraham.— Gen., 
12:1,  7.  To  Isaac.  — Gen.,  26:2,  24.  To 
Jacob.— Gen.,  28:  13-15  ;  31:  3  ;  35:  1,  10. 

Nearly  every  nation  and  race  has  legends  that 
far  back  in  the  dim  and  early  history  of  its  ori- 
gin God  and  angels  conversed  with  their  ances- 


178  THE   PLAN   OF    CREATION. 

tors,  and  gave  instructions  and  advice.  The 
character  of  the  communication  has  in  most 
instances  been  perverted  or  lost.  The  Jews 
have  best  preserved  that  which  was  communi- 
cated to  them.  Presumably  instructions  were 
given  to  all  the  early  members  of  the  race  until 
through  wickedness  the  communications  failed 
to  produce  any  benefits,  then  they  ceased. 

During  the  period  of  over  2,200  years  men 
became  acquainted,  to  some  extent,  with  the 
laws  of  nature,  and  man  was  prepared  to  receive 
miracles  as  evidence.  Man  was  also  prepared 
\to  record  this  evidence  in  writing  for  future 
generations.  Miracles  commence  with  the  call 
of  Moses.  See  Ex.,  3:  2.  They  are  of  frequent 
occurrence  for  a  period  of  about  1,800  years 
down  to  the  time  of  Christ. 

Miracles  properly  witnessed  and  recorded  in 
writing,  and  commemorated  by  institutions,  and 
a  perpetuation  of  ceremonies,  are  a  very  valua- 
ble class  of  evidence  for  all  time  and  all  people. 
This  class  of  evidence,  and  the  evidence  of 
prophecy,  are  fully  discussed  in  such  writings 
as  "Watson's  Institutes,"  "Paley's  Evidences," 


THE   PLAN   OF    CREATION.  179 

and  other  works.  We  will,  therefore,  pass  them 
without  further  comment. 

The  foregoing  evidence  is  not  of  such  a  char- 
acter as  to  produce  conviction  in  the  minds  of 
the  greatest  number  of  men.  To  all,  except 
those  present,  it  is  but  hearsay.  The  people  of 
the  present  day,  of  their  own  knowledge,  do  not 
know  but  that  all  these  books  and  recorded 
miracles  and  prophecies  are  fabrications.  We 
know  not  of  our  own  knowledge  but  that  all 
the  histories  of  the  ancients  are  fabrications. 
It  is  not  reasonable  to  believe  that  they  are 
such,  but  we  do  not  know  of  our  own  knowl- 
edge that  they  are  not.  This  evidence  was  at 
the  time  it  occurred  the  best  and  most  appro- 
priate, and  is  corroborative  of,  and  corroborated 
by,  other  evidence.  Without  it  the  list  of  evi- 
dence would  not  be  complete. 

There  is  another  class  of  evidence  which  to 
the  people  of  the  present  day,  with  their  ad- 
vanced intellectual  development,  and  vast  accu- 
mulated knowledge  of  scientific  facts,  is  as 
conclusive  in  this  age  of  the  truth  of  this  reve- 
lation as  were  miracles  or  direct  conversation 


180  THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 

with  God  ill  the  former  ages.  It  is  a  class  of 
evidence  which  must  become  stronger  and 
clearer  as  the  intellect  more  fully  develops,  and 
as  science  accumulates  more  facts.  It  is  evi- 
dence internal  and  inherent  in  the  subject  mat- 
ter revealed,  and  is  of  such  a  character  that  it 
could  not  have  been  known  to  the  human  race 
as  scientific  facts  at  the  time  the  race  came  into 
possession  of  the  knowledge.  It  is  evidence 
that  can  not  be  fabricated. 

Several  thousand  years  ago  it  was  positively 
announced,  not  as  a  hypothesis,  but  as  a  fact, 
that  there  is  a  God,  who  had  created  the  uni- 
verse and  everything  that  has  life.  "In  the 
beginning  God  created  the  heavens  and  earth." 
-Gen.,  1:  1,  25.  See  also  Neh.,  9:6;  Psa., 
33:  6  ;  Isa.,  42:  5  ;  Heb.,  3:  4.  Without  fixing 
the  date  at  which  this  fact  was  first  announced 
to  man,  it  is  sufficient  that  it  be  referred  to  a 
period  several  thousand  years  ago.  Certainly 
not  less  than  3,000  years.  From  that  time 
down  to  the  present  that  fact  has  been  contro- 
verted, so  far  as  evidence  is  concerned.  Those 
who  do  not  accept  revelation  have  constantly 


THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION.  181 

affirmed  that  there  is  no  proof  yet  discovered 
which  established  the  fact,  while  many  of  the 
very  learned  claim  that  science  directly  contra- 
dicts the  proposition. 

But  for  these  thousands  of  years  the  intellect 
has  been  pushing  its  investigations,  through 
science,  far  out  into  the  depths  of  the  universe, 
and  far  back  into  the  ages  of  the  past,  and  has 
been  reaching  out  into  the  dim  future. 

The  laws  of  cause  and  effect  have  been  ex- 
amined. From  all  these  sources  vast  numbers 
of  facts  have  been  discovered.  The  scientific 
world  is  rapidly  reaching,  if  it  has  not  already 
reached,  the  conclusion  that  a  being,  intelli- 
gent and  eternal,  has  created  the  universe  and 
all  that  is  therein.  We  refer  the  reader  at  this 
time  to  Chapters  II  and  III,  where  the  argu- 
ments set  out  apparently  establish  this  propo- 
sition beyond  reasonable  controversy.  It  also 
there  appears  as  a  corollary  that  He  is  an  omni- 
potent, eternal,  unchanging  being,  of  free  will. 

Many  of  the  facts  of  science  which  constitute 
this  evidence  were  unknown  even  a  century  ago. 
At  the  time  man  was  first  informed  that  God 

9 


182  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

created  all  things  these  truths  were  all  unknown. 
At  that  time  man,  by  searching  nature,  could 
not  have  found  out  God.  This  evidence  was  a 
matter  for  the  intellect  to  discover.  According 
to  the  plan  of  creation  it  would  be  left  for  man 
to  discover,  being  only  collateral  to  the  main 
subject  of  revelation,  thereby  adding  to  the  en- 
joyment of  the  members  of  the  race.  As  the 
intellect  develops,  and  accumulates  knowledge 
in  science,  this  evidence  will  increase  until  the 
fact  becomes  as  well  established  as  any  of  the 
laws  or  facts  in  nature. 

There  are  some  other  very  remarkable  state- 
ments relating  to  the  future  in  the  Bible,  as 
follows: 

Lift  up  your  eyes  to  tho  heavens,  and  look  upon  the 
earth  beneath:  for  tho  heavens  shall  vanish  away  like 
smoke,  and  the  earth  shall  wax  old  like  a  garment. — 
Isa.,  51:0. 

And  all  the  host  of  heaven  shall  bo  dissolved,  and  the 
heavens  shall  be  rolled  together  as  a  scroll :  and  all  their 
host  shall  fall  down,  as  tho  leaf  falleth  off  from  the  vine, 
and  as  a  falling  fig  from  the  fig- tree. — Isa.,  34:  4. 

And  tho  heavens  departed  as  a  scroll  when  it  is  rolled 
together ;  and  every  mountain  and  island  were  moved 
out  of  their  places.  —  Rev.,  G:  14. 

Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away. — Matt.,  24:  35. 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  183 

Not  only  is  there  set  forth  the  fact,  that  the 
earth  and  the  heavens  shall  be  changed  from 
their  present  form,  but  there  is  a  remarkable 
detail  set  forth.  "The  heavens  shall  vanish 
away  like  smoke.'1  "They  shall  be  rolled  to- 
gether as  a  scroll.1'  A.  scroll  is  rolled  in  a  spiral. 
The  motion  of  matter  in  a  nebula  toward  the 
centre  is  in  a  spiral.  The  motion  of  the  planets 
is  in  a  spiral  toward  the  sun.  The  motion  of 
all  the  hosts  of  heaven  is  also  in  spiral  courses 
toward  a  centre  ;  and  it  is  merely  a  question  of 
time  until  they  all  arc  thus  rolled  together  as  a 
scroll  when  it  is  rotted  together. 

When  the  heavens,  or  parts  of  the  universe, 
are  thus  rolled  together  as  a  scroll  the  collision, 
will  produce  such  a  degree  of  heat  that  "the 
earth  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat,"  and  the 
various  planets  and  suns  will  "vanish  away  like 
smoke."  They  will  be  dissolved  into  smoke  or 
vaporized  matter.  This  matter  will  continue 
its  spiral  motion,  rolling  up  as  a  scroll,  from  its 
nebulous  form  into  new  forms.  New  heavens 
and  new  earths  will  thus  be  produced.  ^ 

And  all  their  host  shall  fall  down,  as  the  leaf  falleth 


184  THE    PLAN    OF   CREATION. 

off  from  the  vine,  and  as  a  falling^  from  the  fig-tree.— 
7sa.,34:4. 

The  leaf  and  the  fig  fall  by  the  attraction  of 
gravitation.  By  the  same  force  all  the  hosts 
of  heaven  are  falling  together  to  the  common 
centre.  The  falling  showers  of  meteors  only 
indicate  coming  events  ;  and  they  fall  as  the 
leaf  falleth  from  the  vine,  silently,  numerously, 
by  attraction. 

Sir  Isaac  Newton,  observing  the  falling  apple, 
announced  the  law  of  gravitation,  and  that  it 
extended  to  the  heavenly  bodies.  Isaiah  an- 
nounced the  same  fact  twenty -five  hundred 
years  before,  with  the  further  statement  that 
this  force  would  cause  all  the  hosts  of  heaven 
to  vanish  away  like  smoke,  and  to  be  rolled  up 
as  a  scroll.  These  facts,  set  forth  many  thou- 
sands of  years  ago,  have  been  established  by 
scientific  research  within  the  last  few  years. 

At  the  time  they  were  first  announced  no  in- 
vestigation had  demonstrated  them  to  be  true. 
For  centuries  thereafter  the  voice  of  science 
was  against  them.  The  stability  of  the  uni- 
verse, and  of  the  earth,  were  supposed  to  be 


THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION.  185 

fixed  beyond  question.  The  announcement, 
therefore,  of  the  facts  referred  to,  at  a  time 
when  the  race  was  not  possessed  of  sufficient 
knowledge  to  have  discovered  them,  furnishes 
evidence  to  present  generations  that  they  were 
revealed  to  man  by  a  being  who  knew  them. 
They  authenticate  the  moral  revelation  with 
which  they  are  connected,  and  which  is  based 
in  many  of  its  declarations  upon  these  things 
as  true. 

The  first  chapter  of  Genesis  has  been  assailed 
by  the  opponents  of  revelation  as  being  in  con- 
flict with  the  facts  of  science  ;  and  the  conclu- 
sion is  reached  that  the  whole  purported  reve- 
lation is  the  work  of  man.  Without  fear  of 
successful  contradiction  it  may  be  safely  asserted 
that  the  ideas  conveyed  by  the  original  Hebrew  text 
are  in  harmony  with  the  truths  in  nature.  A.  more 
accurate  scientific  description  can  not  to-day 
be  written  by  any  one,  in  an  equal  number  of 
Hebrew  words,  than  is  written  in  the  original 
text  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis.  An  analy- 
sis and  literal  rendering  of  the  original  text 
will  be  given  in  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

ANALYSIS  AND  LITERAL  TRANSLATION  OF  THE  HEBREW 
TEXT  OF  THE  FIRST  CHAPTER  OF  GENESIS. 

Is  the  Mosaic  account  of  the  creation  correct? 
Does  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  correctly  de- 
scribe events  relating  to  the  origin  of  mat- 
ter and  the  changes  through  which  it  passed 
down  to  the  creation  of  man?  If  it  does  not, 
we  must  treat  that  part  of  it  as  a  fraud  on  the 
human  race.  But  to  ascertain  the  ideas  con- 
veyed in  that  chapter,  we  must  examine  it  in 
the  language  in  which  it  was  first  written,  and 
must  attach  to  the  words  and  idiom  the  mean- 
ing belonging  to  them  at  the  time  the  chapter 
was  written.  Words  and  sentences  are  but 
symbols  of  the  ideas  existing  in  the  mind  of 
the  person  using  them.  The  person  hearing  or 
reading  the  words  may  not  receive  the  same 
ideas  intended  to  be  conveyed  by  the  person 
using  them.  The  truth,  therefore,  expressed  by 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  187 

the  first  person  is  not  to  be  determined  by  what 
the  hearer  or  reader  understood,  but  by  the 
ideas  intended  to  be  embodied  in  the  words. 

The  correctness,  therefore,  of  the  Mosaic  ac- 
count is  to  be  determined  by  ascertaining  the 
ideas  embodied  in  the  original  Hebrew  text  at 
the  time  Moses  put  the  words  together  as  sym- 
bols of  those  ideas.  As  Moses  wrote  in  an 
early  age,  not  very  remote  from  the  time  when 
the  Hebrew  words  were  first  reduced  to  writing, 
and  before  the  words  had  been  by  usage  varied 
from  their  root  meaning,  we  must  give  great 
weight  to  the  root  or  primary  meaning.  Es- 
pecially must  this  be  done  where  that  meaning 
differs  from  the  later  meaning.  It  must  be 
borne  in  mind  as  very  important  that  Moses 
used  the  words  with  the  meanings  attached  t;) 
them  at  the  time  he  wrote,  and  not  with  the 
meaning  that  was  attached  to  them  centuries 
after  that  date,  or  given  to  them  by  translators. 
The  Hebrew  language  is  very  limited  in  scien- 
tific nomenclature.  At  the  time  Moses  wrote 
there  were  few  or  no  scientific  words  in  it  re- 
lating to  natural  science.  He  would,  therefore. 


188  THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 

be  compelled  to  select  such  words  from  common 
use  as  would  best  embody  such  ideas  on  scien- 
tific subjects  as  would  be  expressed  collaterally, 
while  treating  on  moral,  theological,  or  histori 
cal  subjects. 

A  fair  examination,  under  the  foregoing  prin- 
ciples, will  show  that  a  general  description  or 
outline  history  of  the  earth,  from  the  creation 
of  matter  to  the  creation  of  man,  would  be  the 
same  as  the  one  given  by  Moses  in  the  first 
chapter  of  Genesis  in  the  original  Hebrew.  A 
minute  description  or  history  of  the  earth,  from 
the  creation  of  matter  to  the  creation  of  man, 
would  fill  a  great  many  large  volumes.  One 
volume  could  contain  only  a  very  general  de- 
scription j  while  one  page  or  one  short  chapter 
could  contain  only  the  most  general  outline  of 
the  prominent  changes. 

In  the  following  pages,  in  the  second  column, 
are  given  the  Hebrew  words.  The  prefixes  are 
separated  from  the  word,  and  are  indicated  by 
a  hyphen  to  the  left.  This  is  done  so  that  the 
definition  of  the  prefix  may  be  given  by  itself. 
In  the  third  column  is  given  the  definition  of 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION.  189 

• 

the  word  taken  from  the  standard  Hebrew  lex- 
icons. These  definitions  are  made  complete,  so 
that  the  reader  may  clearly  see  the  fullness  of 
the  idea  embraced  in  the  original.  Words  in 
brackets  in  this  column  are  by  the  author,  and 
are  submitted  as  additional  definitions  of  the 
Hebrew.  .  In  the  fourth  column  are  the  words  in 
English  most  nearly  conveying  the  meaning  of 
the  text,  as  embodied  in  the  aggregate  of  words 
in  the  middle  column.  The  reader  is  at  liberty 
to  make  his  own  selection  of  words  from  the 
definitions  for  this  third  column,  if  he  prefers 
so  to  do.  The  words  in  parenthesis  in  the 
fourth  column  are  not  in  the  original,  but  are 
implied,  and  nre  inserted  to  complete  the  sense. 
To  avoid  repetitions,  the  words  are  all  num- 
bered, and  when  the  same  word  occurs,  refer- 
ence by  number  is  made  to  the  full  definition. 
Unimportant  words,  that  is  words  concerning 
the  meaning  of  which  no  question  arises,  are 
not  referred  back  for  definitions. 

0* 


190 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 


TRANSLATION  OF  THE  HEBREW  TEXT  OF  THE 
FIRST  CHAPTER  OF  GENESIS. 


text 
O 


-n 

T 


Definition. 

In,  at,  in  respect  to,  concerning. 
Used  with  verbs  of  motion. 

The  beginning,  first,  commence- 
ment. Hoot,  to  be  moved,  to 
be  shaken. 

Created,  to  form  out  of  nothing. 
Gods. 

This  same,  the  thing  itself,  in  its 
entirety,  totally;  [both  — also. 
The  first  and  last  letters  of  the 
Hebrew  alphabet.  This  word 
is  translated  in  Sanscrit,  "sum 
and  substance  ;  or  elementary 
particles."  Atoms  of  matter. ] 

This,  the. 

Heavens,  denotes  extension  or 
parts.  Root,  to  bo  high. 

And. 

Also.     (See  No.  5,  idem.) 

The. 

Earth,  ground,  elements  of  the 
eavth,  earthy  p^rt.  [In  Hebrew 
the  phrase*" the  heavens  and 
the  earth, "means  the  Universe. 
From  the  verbs  to  bo  high,  and 
to  be  low.] 


Translation 
IN 

the  beginnliv 

created 

God 


both 
the 

heavens 
and 
also 
the 


earth. 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 


191 


Hebrew  text 

Definition. 

Translation. 

-] 

And. 

And 

-h 

The. 

the 

T 

n? 

Earth.     (See  No.  11,  idem.) 

earth 

nrvn 

Was. 

was 

T  :T 

inn 

Wastcness,    emptiness,    nothing, 
abyss,    chaos.     [Not   formed.] 

without  form 

_^ 

And. 

and 

T 

(in) 

inn 

Emptiness,   voidness,    confusion. 

(Seo  Jcr.  4:23;  Isa.  34:11.) 

confusion; 

-1 

And. 

and 

"nctfri 

Darkness.      Hoot,    to    bo    dark, 

*)  V 

obscure. 

darkness 

. 

(was) 

•;>y 

Over,    impending,    upon.     Root, 
to  be  high,  over  [throughout]. 

throughout 

(the) 

*)j?) 

The  surface,  face,  condition,  state, 

"  : 

[mass].    Root,  to  tarn  ;  a  noun 

implying    parts    or    extension. 

[Motion  is  indicated.] 

mass 

(of) 

-n 

The. 

tho 

dn 

Abyss,  gulf,  emptiness,  wastencss, 

tb.3  deep,  ocean,  wave,  billow,  a 

gren  tquantity  of  water  i  n  commo- 
tion ;ue/'&,  toputinmotioUjtodis- 

turb,  to  be  in  commotion,  to  im- 

pel, todrive.  [Matter  in  motion.] 

matter, 

-i 

And. 

and 

nri 

Spirit,  breath,  air  in  motion,  vital 

principle,  vital  spirit,  will,  intel- 

lect, divine  po\ver.  Spirit  of  God. 

Divine    or    miraculous    power, 

by  whica  inanimate  things  are 

moved.     [Force,    attraction    of 

a  power 

gravitation.]                                        (of) 

192 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION 


Hebrew  text 


V,! 


'IT 


T 


- 


Definition. 


God. 


Moving,  trembling,  vivifying, 
brooding  over,  impregnating ; 
verb,  to  shake,  to  tremble. 

Throughout.     (No.  21,  idem.) 
Mass.     (See  No.  22,  idem.) 
The. 

Tottering,  shaking.  Hoot,  to  flow, 
tobefluid,toflowdown,tobedis- 
solved,  to  be  moved,  to  be  agitat- 
ed. [Matter  in  motion  having  the 
appearance  of  a  fluid,  as  flowing 
currents  of  clouds  or  matter.  ] 

And. 

Said,  willed;  verb,  to  say  to  one-self, 
to  will,  to  command,  to  order. 

God. 

That  there  exist ;  verb,  to  become, 
to  bo  made,  to  exist. 

Light,  light  everywhere,  diffused, 
lucid  region,  brightness  of  fire, 
flame  [ligt.t  and  heat  in  general 
diffused  throughout  matter]  ; 
verb,  to  become  light,  to  shine. 

And. 

There  existed.  (Sec No.  36,  idem.) 

Light.     (See  No.  37,  idem.) 

And. 

Saw. 

God. 


Translation. 

God 
(was) 


throughout 

(the) 
mass 

(of) 
the 


matter. 
And 

willed 
God 

that  there  exist 


light; 
and 

there  existed 
light. 
And 
saw- 
God 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 


193 


Hebrew  text 


-n 


-n 


-i 


Definition. 
This  same.     (See  No.  5,  idem.) 
The. 

Light.     (See  No.  37,  idem.) 
That. 

Good,  beautiful,  pleasant,  agree- 
able ;  verb,  to  confer  a  benefit, 
to  make  cheerful. 

And. 

Divided,  separated,  disjoined, 
things  previously  mixed,  des- 
tined for  a  use. 

God. 

Between,  space,  interval. 

The. 

Light.     (See  No.  37,  idem.) 

And. 

Between.     (See  No.  52,  idem.) 

The. 

Darkness.     (See  No.  20,  idem.) 

And. 

Called,  named,  proclaimed  tho 
name  of. 

God. 

As  to,  concerning,  of  a  space 
of  time  after  which  a  tLing 
is  to  be. 

Light.     (See  No.  37,  idem.) 


Translation, 
this  same, 
the 
light 

that 

(it  was) 

good, 
and 

separated 

God 

between 

the 

light 

and 

between 

the 

darkness. 

And 

named 
God 


of 


light 


194 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 


Hebrew  text 


-1 


Dl 


IT  V 


s 


Definition. 
Day.     (See  No.  76,  idem.) 
And. 

A  space  of.     (See  No.  62,  idem.) 
Darkness.     (See  No.  20,   idem.) 
Called,  named. 
Night. 
And. 
There  was. 

Evening,  closing ;  verb,  to  be  dark, 
to  mix,  intermingle,  to  be  arid, 
to  be  sterile. 

And. 

There  was. 
Morning,  dawn. 

Day,  time,  duration,  period,  space 
of  time. 

One,  first ;  denotes  the  beginning 
of  a  series,  others  to  follow. 

And. 

Said,  willed.    (See  No.  34,  idem.) 

God. 

Let  there  be,  exist,  come  to  pass, 
be  made,  bo  done.  (See  No.  c.6, 
idem.) 

An  expanse,  thinness,  spread  out, 
attenuated  ;  verb,  spread  out, 
to  stretch  out,  made  thin,  us 
beating  out  a  thin  plate.  [Thin 
space.] 


Translation. 

and 

a  space  of 
darkness 
he  named 
night ; 
and 
there  was 

evening 
and 

there  was 
morning 

period 

one. 
And 
willed 
God, 

let  there  be 


an  expanse 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 


105 


Hebrew  text 

Definition. 

.   Truusliitii  n. 

-3 

In,  in  the.     [Motion  to  a  placo.] 

in 

""rin 

Between,  midst,  out  of,   middle  ; 

i 

verb,  to  cut  up,  to  divide. 

between 

-n 

The. 

the 

Q^ft 

Waters,  fluid.  (See  No.  32,  idem.) 

V,T 

[Matter  in   a   fluid    or   watery 

form.] 

waters, 

-1] 

And. 

and 

If] 

Let  it  be. 

let  it  bo 

b^Q 

Dividing  ;    verb,    to   separate,    to 
disjoin.     (See  No.  50,  idem.) 

dividing 

r» 

Between.     (See  No.  52,  idem.) 

between 

OT3 

Waters.     (See  No.  32,  idem.) 

waters 

-5 

To,  from.     ^See  No.  G2,  idem.) 

from 

T 

*  LT£} 

Waters.     (See  No.  32,  idem.) 

•waters. 

'IT 

-"1 

And. 

And 

fry 

Made,  produced,  prepared,  made 

ready,  completed,  effected. 

mado 

D^ri^s 

God. 

God 

"HK 

This  same,  sum  and  substance, 

V 

in  ils  entirety,    totality.     (See 

No.  5,  idem.) 

in  its  entirety 

-n 

The. 

the 

IT 

ynp"3 

Expanse.     (See  No.  82,  idem.) 

expanse, 

-fi 

And. 

and 

blD 

Divided.     (See  No.  50,  idem.) 

divided 

p3 

Between.     (See  No.  5%J,  idem.) 

between 

196 


THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION. 


Hebrew  text 


nn 


pa 

-n 


-b 


"Tl 

:P 


Definition. 
The. 

Waters.     (See  No.  32,  idem.) 
Which. 
From. 
Under,  beneath. 

To,  from,  (See  No.  62,  idem.) 
from  the. 

Expanse.     (See  No.  82,  idem.) 

And. 

Between.     (See  No.  52,  idem.) 

The. 

Waters.     (See  No.  32,  idem.) 

Which. 

From. 

Above,  on  high ;  verb,  to  go  up, 
au  smoko,  to  cause  unyth  iig 
to  go  up  us  smoke,  impending, 
suspended  owr  anythiu.,,  \vkh- 
out  toucbiug  it. 

From  the,  to  the.  (See  No.  02, 
idem.) 

Expanse.     (See  No.  82,  idem.) 

And. 

It  was. 

So,  so  constituted,  established. 
[Demoting  a,  nnishe.l  or  ux- it 
condition.} 


Translation, 
the 
waters, 

which 

(are) 
from 

beneath 

from 
(the) 

expanse 

and 

between 

the 

waters 

which 

(are) 
from 


above 

from 
(the) 


and 

it  was 

tij   constituted. 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 


197 


Hebrew  text 

Definition. 

Translation. 

-;1 

And. 

And 

*9i? 

Called,     named.      (See    No.     GO, 
idem.) 

named 

D^n  /& 

IT 

God. 
To  the.     (See  No.  62,  ideaa.) 

Expanse,  thin  space.   (See  No.  82, 
idem.) 

God 
to  the 
expanse 

D'TCtf 

•AT  T 

Heaven.     (See  No.  7,  idem.) 
And. 

heaven  ; 
and 

"T1 

There  was. 

there  was 

:ny 

Evening.     (See  No.  72,  idem.) 

evening 

-?i 

And. 

and 

-vi 

There  was. 

there  was 

n|> 

Morning. 

Day,  time,  period.     (See  No.  76, 
idem.) 

morning 
period 

D  :^ 

Second  ;  verb,  to  double,  repeat. 

second. 

-1 

And. 

And 

TJK 

Said,   commanded,  willed.     (See 
No.  34,  idem.) 

willed 

Q^N 

God. 

God, 

TIjT 

Let  there  be  gathered  together. 
Hoot,  to  twist,  to  wind,  to  be 
strong. 

let     there     be 
gathered   to- 
gether 

-n 

The. 

the 

D:S 

Waters.     (See  No.  32,  idem.) 

waters 

198 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 


Hebrew  text 

Definition. 

Translation. 

-D 

From. 

from 

nnn 

Under,   beneath.      (See  No.   107, 
idem.) 

beneath 

~u 

The. 

the 

D?OE; 

Heavens.     (See  No.  7,  idem,) 

heavens 

~?N 

Unto,  into,  including  mo!  ion,  di- 

'•* 

rection  to  any  place  ;  used  with 
verbs  of  turning. 

into 

DIDO 

Place,  where  waters  flow  together. 

place 

!      T 

"in?? 

One. 

one 

r-i 

And. 

and 

n&nn 

Shall  be  seen. 

shall  be  seen 

V    Tf 

-n 

The. 

the 

nEto* 

Dry  land,  hot  dry  land  ;  verb,  to 

AT  T~ 

become  dry. 

dry  land 

~^1 

And. 

and 

"Yi 

It  was. 

it  was 

*  P 

So,  so  established.     (See  No.  121, 

4  Ir 

idem.) 

so  established. 

-?1 

And. 

And 

JOp 

Named,    called.      (See    No.  .60, 

T!: 

idem.) 

named 

D^K 

God. 

God 

-? 

To  the.      (See  No.  62,  idem.) 

to  the 

n^D^1 

Dry   land,    hot   dry   land.      (See 

T  T- 

No.    152,    idem.) 

dry  land 

V"1^ 

Earth,   land. 

earth, 

THE    PLAN    0V   CREATION. 


tlJJ 


No.   |  II.  brew  text 

IG3 

1C  3  -} 

ici  -Q 

10  ^  ~!p 

ic;  _n 

1?.T 


ICO 
170 
171 
17J 
173 
17-1 
175 
17G 
177 
178 

170 
180 
181 

183 


sehri 


-n 


Definition. 
And. 
To. 
The. 

Gathering  together  ;  verb,  to  twist, 
The. 

Waters.     (Sec  No.  32,  Ucrii.; 
Called,  named.  (See  No.  60,  idem.) 
Sea:;.     Hoot,  to  rage,  to  roar. 
And. 

Saw.     (Seo  No.  42,  idem.) 
God. 
That. 

Good.     (See  No,  43,  idem.) 
And. 

Said,  willed.    (See  No.  3-1,  i.:e:u.) 
God. 

Let  sprout  forth  ;  verb,  to  sprout, 
to  be  green,  to  bring  forth  herb- 
age, to  send  fori.li. 

The. 

Earth.  (See  No.  11,  idem.)  Ground, 

Gr  iss,  tender  grass,  first  f-pronts  of 
the  earth,  tender  herb;  itia  differ- 

ent from  mature  or  ripe  grass, 
[new,  fresh,  green  young  grass.] 

Green  herb, 


Tra:  nUti^n. 
ami 
to 
the 

gathering      to- 
Aether    (•>!) 

the 

\v;>'e:vj 

(lu)  im^ictl 

ocas  ; 

and 

saw 

God 

that 

(it  was) 
good. 

And 

willed 

God, 

let  sprout  forth 

the 
earth 


young  g.-as 
green  hcr'i 


200 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 


Hebrew  text 


Definition . 

Producing  seed,    scattering  seed. 
Seed. 
Tree. 

Fruit,  to  bear,  to  produce. 
Producing. 

Fruit.     (See  No.  183,  idem.) 
To. 

Kind,   species ;   verb,  to  bear  an 
appearance. 

Which,  whose. 

Seed. 

In  it. 

Upon.     (See  No.  21,  idem.) 

The. 

Earth,  land. 

And. 

It  was. 

So,  so  established.    (See  No.  121, 
idem.) 

And. 

Brought  forth.     Hoot,  to  go  out. 

The. 

Earth. 

Tender  grass.  (See  No.  181,  idem.) 
Young  grass. 


Translation, 
producing 
seed, 

treo 

(of) 
fruit 

producing 
fruit 

to 
(its) 

species 
which 

seed 
(fe) 

in  it 

upon 
the 
earth 
and 
it  was 

so  established 

And 

brought  forth 

the 

earth 

young,    tender 
grass, 


THE   PLAN   OP   CREATION. 


201 


Hebrew  text 

Definition. 

Translation. 

Sfrj? 

Green  herb. 

green  herb, 

ynio 

Producing.     (See  No.  183,  idem.) 

producing 

o 

Seed. 

seed 

-3 

To  its. 

to  its 

"JD 

Species,    kind.      (See    No.    190, 
idem.) 

species, 

-1 

And. 

and 

yy 

Tree. 

tree 

•ngty 

Producing. 

prducing 

•pjg 

Fruit. 

fruit, 

"^8 

Which,  whose. 

whose 

13 

Seed. 
In  it. 

seed 
(is) 
in  it 

-h 

To  its. 

to  its 

wo 

A"     * 

Species,    kind.      (See    No.    190, 
idem.) 

species  ; 

-!1 

And. 

and 

SO 

Saw. 

saw 

o^si 

God. 

God 

:4 

That. 
Good.     (See  No.  48,  idem.) 

that 
(it  was) 
good. 

~^ 

And. 

And 

-Tl 

There  was. 

there  was 

a"3? 

Evening. 

evening 

202 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 


Hebrew  text 

Definition. 

Translation. 

•"^1 

And. 

and 

-V! 

There  was. 

there  was 

npD 

Morning. 

morning 

D  r 

Day,  time,  period.     (See  No.  76, 
idem.) 

period 

D:1^^ 

Three. 

three. 

-H 

And. 

And 

-ION' 

Said,  commanded.     (See  No.  34, 
idem.) 

said 

D'flbs 

God. 

God,- 

VP 

Let  there  be,  to  serve  for. 

let  there  be 

ms«? 

Luminaries  ;  verb,  to  become  light, 
to  shine,  to  give  light. 

luminaries 

-3 

In  the. 

in  the 

-d 

Expanse  of.     (See  No.  82,  idem.) 
The. 

expanse 
(of) 
the 

D:D| 

Heaven.     (See  No.  7,  idem.) 
To. 

heavens, 
to 

^?b 

Divide,  separate,  distinguish.  (See 
No.  50,  idem.) 

divide 

r? 

Between.     (f>ee  No.  32,  idem.) 

between 

-n 

The. 

the 

Dl' 

Day.      (Sci-  No.  73,  idem  ) 

day 

-1 

And. 

and 

rs 

Between.     (See  No.  5-',  idem.) 

between 

THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 


203 


H.'brcw  ti  x; 

Definition. 

Translation. 

-n 

The. 

the 

rb*b 

Night. 

night  ; 

-i 

And. 

and 

rrj 

They  shall  bo. 

they    shall    be 

-h 

To:-.     (Sec  No.  03,  idem.) 

for 

nriK 

Signs,  a  sign  of  something  past,  a 
si^u  of  sor.iethiug  future,  ft  sign 
of  that  which  can  not  be  set'ii  ; 
verb,  to  make,  to  designate. 

signs 

-i 

And. 

and 

Jp 

For. 

for 

o^ato 

Set   time,   fixed   times,   space   of 
lime,  year,  perpetuity  of  time. 

set  times, 

-?) 

And. 

and 

-^> 

For. 

for 

HT?^ 

•T 

Days. 

days, 

-1 

And. 

and 

r  r 

Repetitions  ;   verb,   to   repeat,    to 
double,   years. 

repetitions. 

-1 

And. 

And 

•rri 

They  shall  be. 

they    sha'l    bo 

-5 

For. 

for 

mixo 

Luminaries.  (See  No.  23G,  idem.) 

luminaries 

-3 

In. 

in 

STTI 

Expanse.     (See  No.  82,  idem.) 

(the) 
expanse 
(of) 

204 


Hebrew  text 


-n 


Jp 

TNT! 
-S 

-n 

T 


-in 

:P 


-n 

-n 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 

Definition. 
The. 

Heaven.     (See  No.  7,  idem.) 
To. 

Give  light ;  verb,  to  be  light. 
Upon.     (See  No.  21,  idem.) 
The. 
Earth. 
And. 
It  was. 

So    established.      (See   No.    121, 
idem.) 

And. 

Made,   appointed.     (See  No.  95, 
idem.) 

God. 

Both,  each.     (See  No.  5,  idem.) 

Two. 

The. 

Luminaries.  (See  No.  236,  idem.) 

The. 

Great. 

Both.     (See  No.  5,  idem.) 

The 

Luminary.     (See  No.  236,  idem.) 


Translation, 
the 

heaven, 
to 

give  light 
upon 
the 
earth , 
and 
it  was 

so  established. 
And 

appointed 

God 

each 

two 

(of) 
the 

luminaries, 

the 

great, 

both 

the 

luminary, 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 


205 


Hebrew  text 

Definition. 

Translation. 

-n 

The. 

the 

big 

Great. 

great 

J). 

For. 

for 

-n 

The  ruling  ;  verb,  to  make  like,  to 
rule. 

The. 

the  ruling 
(of) 
the 

DV 

Day. 

day, 

-1 

And. 

and 

"HK 

Also.     (See  No.  5,  idem.) 

also 

-6 

The. 

the 

nix*3 

'T 

-n 

Luminary. 
The. 

luminary 
the 

top 

Small. 

small 

-| 

For. 

for 

-p 

The. 

the 

nbgto 
'  -n 

njj 

T'-i 

Ruling.     (See  No.  293,  idem.) 
The. 
Night. 
And. 

ruling 
(of) 
the 

night  ; 
and 

HK 

Also.     (Se&  No.  5,  idem.) 

also 

-n 

The. 

the 

:a??i? 

Stars  ;  verb,  root,  torollup  as  in  a  ball. 
And. 

stars. 
And 

1C 

Set,  put,  place,  to  place  over. 

set 

206 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 


Hebrew  text 

Definition. 

Translation. 

DfiK 

Them. 

them 

DM^K 

God. 

God 

-3 

In  the. 

in  the 

srpi 

Expanse.     (See  No.  82,  idem.) 

expanse 
(of) 

-n 

The. 

the 

D^iO^ 

Heaven. 

heaven, 

•ATT 

-J 

To. 

to 

T^H 

Give  light. 

give  light 

-Sy 

Upon.     (See  No.  21,  idem.) 

upon 

-n 

The. 

the 

T 

1  VHN 

Earth. 

earth. 

•"1 

And. 

And 

_y 

To. 

to 

^b 

Kule  .     (  See  No.  293,  idem  .  ) 

rule 

_2 

In  the. 

in  the 

DV 

Day. 

day 

-1 

And. 

and 

-3 

In  the. 

in  the 

r6^? 

Night. 

night, 

T  :- 

And. 

and 

Jji 

To. 

to 

y-..:. 

Divide,  distinguish.    (See  No.  50, 

•:  L 

idem.) 

divide 

p3 

Between.     (See  No.  52,  idem.) 

between 

THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 


207 


Hebrew  text 

Definition. 

Translation. 

-n 

^T 

The. 
Light. 

the 
light 

-1 

And. 

and 

P3 

Between. 

between 

-n 

The. 

the 

•ntfn 

}V     A 

Darkness.     (See  No.  20,  idem.) 
And. 

darkness  ; 
and 

XI 

Saw. 

saw 

D^B 

God. 

God 

:sto 

That. 

Good,  (see  No.  48,  idem,)  beauti- 
ful, pleasant  [suitable]. 

that 
(it  was) 

good. 

-n 

And. 

And 

-TI 

There  was. 

there  was 

2"W 

Evening. 

evening 

~-r 

And. 

and 

-V! 

There  was. 

there  was 

^pp 

Morning. 

morning 

DV 

Day,  time,  period.     (See  No.  76, 
idem.) 

period 

*  p   *  : 

Fourth,  repeated  the  fourth  time. 

And. 

fourth. 
And 

-!?tf 

Said,  willed.     (See  No.  34,  idem.) 

willed 

'  o-'ri^ 

God. 

God, 

208 


Hebrew  text 


-n 


-n 


•ITT 


THE  PLAN  OF  CREATION. 

Definition. 

Let  bring  forth  abundantly ;  verb, 
to  creep,  to  crawl,  to  abound, 
to  multiply,  to  be  multiplied. 

The. 

Waters.     (See  No.  32,  idem.) 

Creeping  or  crawling  things,  rep- 
tiles, small  aquatic  animals, 
winged  reptiles. 

Breathing  creatures,  soul  ;  verb, 
to  take  breath. 

Living  creature,  beast;  verb,  to 
live,  with  the  idea  of  breathing. 

And. 

A  wing,  birds,  fowl,  flying  thing  ; 
verb,  to  fly. 

Let  fly. 

Upon,  in.     (See  No.  21,  idem.) 

The. 

Earth. 

Upon,  in.     (See  No.  21,  idem.) 

The  face  of.     (See  No.  22,  idem.) 

The  expanse.  (See  No.  82,  idem.) 

The. 

Heaven.     (See  No.  7,  idem.) 

And. 

Created.     (See  No.  3,  idem.) 

God. 


Translation. 

let  bring  forth 
abundantly 

the 
waters 


creeping  things 

breathing 

creatures 


living, 

and 

fowl 

let  fly 

upon 

the 

earth 

upon 

the  face  of 

the  expanse 

(of) 
the 

heaven. 
And 
created 
God 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 


209 


Hebrew  text 


• 


-n 


-p 

injn 

-n 


-n 

era 


Definition. 

All.     (See  No.  5,  idem.) 
The 

Sea  monsters,  serpents,  crocodiles, 
great  serpents  ;  verb,  to  extend, 
to  stretch  out. 

The. 

Great. 

And. 

Also.     (See  No.  5,  idem.) 

Every,  all,  all  kinds,  denotes, 
totality. 

Breathing  creature.  (See  No.  362, 
idem.) 

The. 

Living.     (See  No.  363,  idem.) 

The. 

Creeping  ;  verb,  to  creep,  to  crawl, 
the  proper  term  for  the  motion 
of  smaller  animals  which  creep 
upon  the  ground,  those  that 
have  four  feet  or  more  or  none, 
an  crabs,  aquatic  animals,  birds 
and  fishes. 

Which. 

Brought  forth  abundantly.  (See 
No.  338,  idem.) 

The. 

Waters.     (See  No.  32,  idem.) 


Translation. 
all 
the 

sea  monsters 

the 

great, 

and 

also 

every 

breathing 

creatures 

the 

living 

the 


creeping, 
which 

brought     forth 
abundantly 

the 
waters 


210 


THE  PLAN   OF   CREATION. 


Hebrew  text 

Definition. 

Translatic 

O^P 

TV)  their. 

Kind,    species.       (See  No.   190, 
idem.) 

to 
(their} 

species, 

-1 

And. 

and 

nN 

Also.     (See  No.  5,  idem.) 

also 

T 

Every,   all,   etc.      (See  No.   385, 
idem.) 

every 

^ 

Fowl,  flying  thing.    (See  No.  365, 
idem.) 

Wing; 
To. 

fowl 
(of) 
wing 

to 

inrp 

Its  kind. 

its  kind  ; 

-a! 

And. 

and 

&n 

Saw. 

saw 

D^VIS 

God. 

God 

*  i 

That. 
Good.     (See  No.  48,  idem.) 
And. 

that 
(it  was) 
good. 

And 

oS 

Blessed,  caused  to  prosper. 
Them. 
God. 

blessed 
them 
God 

ios6' 

Saying. 

saying, 

V® 

Be  fruitful. 

bo  fruitful 

-i 

And. 

and 

IT) 

Multiply. 

multiply 

THE   PLAN   OF 'CREATION. 


211 


Hebrew  text 

Definition. 

Translation. 

~Z) 

And. 

and 

^0 

Fill,  —  with  the  idea  of  abundance, 
overflowing. 

till 

"HN 

Also.     (See  No.  5,  idem.) 

also 

-6 

The. 

the 

D:D 

Waters.     (See  No.  32,  idem.) 

waters 

-3 

In  the. 

in  thfl 

Q^P 

Seas. 

seas  , 

-1 

And. 

and 

-ri 

The. 

the 

rjiy 

Fowl,  flying  thing.  (See  365,  idem.; 

fowl 

HT 

Let  multiply. 

let  multiply 

-J 

In  the. 

in  the 

I   VIT 

Earth. 
And. 

earth. 
And 

-VI 

There  was. 

there  was 

3"!5? 

Evening. 

evening 

~?i 

And. 

and 

npa 

There  was. 
Morning. 

there  was 
morning 

Di1 

Day,  time,  period. 

period 

DPETpn 

Fifth. 

fifth. 

-*i 

And. 

And 

n^^ 

Said,  willed.    (See  No.  34,  idem.) 

willed 

212 


THE   PLAN  OF   CREATION. 


Hebrew  text 

Definition. 

Translation. 

DTlbtt 

God. 

God, 

»        *•". 

Let  bring  forth.     (See  No.  201, 
idem.) 

let  bring  forth 

-n 

n? 

The. 
Earth,  land. 

Breathing  creatures.  (See  No.  362, 
idem.) 

the 
earth 

breathing 
creatures 

rrn 

Living.     (See  No.  363,  idem.) 

living 

T     * 

To. 

Its  hind,  species.     (See  No.  190. 
idem.) 

to 
(its) 

species, 

T  ••  : 

Beasts,    large    land    quadrupeds, 
domestic  animals,  cattle,  beasts 
of  the  field,  wild  beasts. 

beasts 

-T 

And. 

Creeping  things,  reptiles,  whatever 
creeps  upon  the  ground,  all  land 
animals. 

and 
creeping  things 

-1 

And. 

and 

"inp 

Wild  animals,  as  opposed  to  tame 
cattle,  in  its  widest  sense  beasts 
of  all  kinds. 

Earth,  land.    (See  No.  11,  idem.) 

beasts 
(of) 
earth 

•y 

To. 

to 

nrb 

AT  • 

Its  kind.    (See  No.  190,  idem.) 
And. 

its  kind  ; 
and 

•vi 

It  was. 

it  was 

:p 

So,  so  established,  constituted. 

so  established. 

THE  PLAN   OP   CREATION. 


213 


Hebrew  text 

Definition. 

Translation. 

T?l 

And. 

And 

&y 

Made.    (See  No.  95,  idem.) 

made 

DT^N 

God. 

God 

-nja 

All.     (See  No.  5,  idem.) 

all 

rrn 

Beasts.     (See  No.  448,  idem.) 

beasts 

— 

(of) 

.-n 

The. 

the 

T 

yn^ 

Earth,  land. 

earth 

-5 

To. 

to 

• 

(its) 

nra 

Its  kind,  species. 

species 

T     * 

-1 

And. 

and 

TIN 

All. 

all 

-n 

The. 

the 

nans 

T  ••  : 

Cattle,   animals.      (See  No.  448, 
idem.) 

cattle 

-b 

To. 

to 

nra 

Its  kind,  species. 

its  kind, 

T     ' 

~] 

And. 

and 

HN 

Also.     (See  No.  5,  idem.) 

also 

-Vs 

Every.     (See  No.  385,  idem.) 

every 

T 

B7!D"1 

Crcoping  thing.    (See  450,  idem.) 

creeping   thing 

(of) 

-PI 

The. 

the 

IT 

na*iK 

Ground,  land. 

ground 

T  TT: 

U 

To. 

to 

: 

(its) 

inj^o 

Its  kind,  species. 

kind  ; 

A"     * 

214 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 


Hebrew  text 

Definition. 

Translation. 

-•n 

And. 

and 

*H 

Saw. 

saw 

D^N 

God. 

God 

i 
-"1 

That. 
Good.     (See  No.  48,  idem,) 
And. 

that 
(it  was) 
good. 

And- 

"sptf 

Said,  willed.    (See  No.  34,  idem.) 

said 

crri^ 

God. 

God, 

n&u 

TT 

Let  us  make,  fabricate. 
Man  ;  verb,  to  be  ruddy. 

let  us  make 
man 

-3 

U»!?§? 

In. 
Shadow,  image,  likeness. 

in 
(our) 
image, 

A"          ; 

According  to,  like,  as. 

Likeness,  similitude,  image,  mod- 
el, pattern,  appearance,  resem- 
blance. 

according  to 
(our) 

likeness  ; 

**l 

And. 

and 

rn 

Let  them  rule  over  ;  verb,  subdue, 
take  possession  of,  rule  over. 

let  them  rule 
over 

-3 

The. 

the 

-n 

Fish. 
The. 

fish 
(of) 
the 

°T 

Sea. 

sea, 

THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 


215 


Hebrew  text 


- 


nan? 
-i 


T 

-n 

T 
VT 

3 

"^ 
-n 


-n 

IT 


-n 


Definition. 
And. 
Over  the. 

Fowl,  birds.   (See  No.  365,  idem.) 
The. 

Heaven,  space  above  the  earth. 
And. 
Over  the. 

Cattle,  animals.     (Sec  448,  idem.) 
And. 
Over. 

All.     (See  No.  385,  idem.) 
The. 
Earth. 
And. 
Over. 
All. 
The. 

Creeping  things.     (See  No.  450, 
idem.) 

Which. 

Creeping.     (See  No.  450,  idem.} 

Upon. 

The. 

Earth,  land. 


Translation. 

end 
over  the 

fowl 

(of) 
the 

heaven, 

and 

over  the 

cattle, 

and 

over 

all 

the 

earth, 

and 

over 

all 

the 

creeping  things 

which 

(are) 
creeping 

upon 

the 

earth. 


216 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 


Hebrew  text 


-n 

IT 

DIN 


TT 


403 


Definition. 
And. 

Created.     (See  No.  3,  idem.) 
God. 

Also.     (See  No.  5,  idem.) 
The. 
Man. 
In. 

Image.     (See  No.  493,  idem.) 
In  The. 

Image.     (See  No.  4.93,  idem.) 
God. 

He  created.    (See  No.  3,  idem.) 
Him. 

Male,  to  remember,  keep  in  mem- 
ory, meditate. 

And. 

Female. 

Created  He.      (See  No.  3,  idem.) 

Them. 

And. 

Blessed,  caused  to  prosper. 

Them. 

God. 


Translation. 
And 
created 
God 
also 
the 
man 

in 

(his) 
image, 

in  the 

image 
(of) 
God 

He  created 
him  ; 
male 

and 

female 

created  He 

them. 

And 

blessed 

them 

God, 


THE   PLAN   OP  CREATION. 


217 


Hebrew  text 

-4 


n 


-n 

n? 


rn 

-? 

an 


Definition. 
And. 

Said.     (See  No.  34,  idem.) 
To  them. 
God. 

Be  fruitful,  bear  young. 
And. 

Be  multiplied,  multitude,  vast. 
And. 

Fill.     (See  No.  418,  idem.) 
Also.     (See  No.  5,  idem.") 
The. 

Earth,  land. 
And. 

Subdue,  subject  it. 
And. 

Kule  over.     (See  No.  497,  idem.) 

The. 

Fish. 

The. 

Sea. 

And. 

Over  the. 

Fowl. 


Translation. 
and 
said 
to  them 

od, 

be  fruitful 
and 

be  multiplied, 
and 
fill 
also 
the 
earth 
and 

subdue  it ; 
and 

rule  over 
the 

fish 

(of) 
the 

sea, 
and 
over  the 

fowl 

(of) 


218 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 


Hebrew  text 

Definition. 

Translation. 

-n 

The. 

the 

•  ~  T 

Heaven. 
And. 

heaven, 
and 

-D 

Over. 

over 

T 

Every,   all,   etc.      (See  No.   385, 
idem.) 

every 

nn 

T~ 

-n 

!T 

ni^!Di 

Beast.     (See  No.  363,  idem.) 
Which. 

Creeping.     (^See  No.  450,  idem.) 

beast 

which 
(is) 
creeping 

~^y 

Upon. 

upon 

-n 

IT 

The. 
Earth. 

the 
earth. 

Ivj 

And. 

And 

-^ 

Said.     (See  No.  34,  idem.) 

said 

D^n^ 

God. 

God, 

™n 

Behold. 

behold, 

TIPG 

I  have  given. 

I  have  given 

TT 

To  yon. 
Also.      (See  No.  5,  idem.; 

to  you 
also 

.     T 

Every,  all.     (See  No.  385,  idem.) 
Grass. 

all 

grass 

IHi 

Seeding,  producing  seed. 

producing 

jnt 

Seed. 

seed, 

1^ 

Which. 

•which 
(fc) 

THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 


219 


Hebrew  text 

Definition. 

Translation. 

"by 

Upon. 

upon 

T 

-n 

The  face  of,  surface  of.     (See  No. 
22,  idem.) 

All. 
The. 

the  surface 
(of) 
all 

the 

n? 

Earth,  land. 
And. 

earth, 
and 

"HN 

Also.     (See  No.  5,  idem.) 

also 

T 

-n 

Every.     (See  No.  385,  idem.) 
The. 
Tree. 

every 
the 
tree, 

—  IEJN 

Which. 

•which 

la 

In  it. 

in  it 

""1? 

vy 

Fruit. 

Tree. 

fruit 
(of) 
tree 

y*il 

Seeding,  producing.  (See  590  idem) 

producing 

y}TT 

Seed 

seed  ; 

•THI 

To  you. 
It  shall  be. 

to  you 
it  shall  be 

'-$ 

For. 

for 

:  rfe& 

IT  :  T 

Food  ;  verb,  to  eat. 
And. 

food. 
And 

-1? 

To. 

to 

^? 

Every,  all.      (See  No,  385,  idem.) 

every 

220 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 


Hebrew  text 

Definition. 

Translation. 

nri 

Beast.     (See  No.  363,  idem.) 

beast 

(of) 

-n 

The. 

the 

T 

n* 

Earth. 

earth, 

-!j 

And. 

and 

-b 

To. 

to 

"^D 

Every 

every 

T 

nil? 

Fowl. 

f6wl 

i 

(of) 

-n 

The. 

the 

D'ttEJ 

Heaven. 

heaven, 

•~  T 

-1 

And. 

and 

-£ 

To. 

to 

I^D 

Every. 

every 

27Dl™l 

Creeping   thing.      (See  No.  450, 

idem.) 

creeping  thing 

J?y 

Upon. 

upon 

-n 

The. 

the 

T 

VHK 

Earth. 

earth, 

-T^N 

Which. 

which 

ii 

Iii  it. 

in  it 

'•* 

(is) 

^^3 

Breathing  creatures.  (See  No.  362, 

breathing 

vv 

idem.) 

creatures 

n--n 

Living.     (See  No.  363,  idem. 

living, 

T~ 

"H^s 

Also.     (See  No.  5,  idem.) 

also 

"^? 

Every. 

every 

THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION.                      221 

Hebrew  text 

Definition. 

Translation. 

P? 

Greenness. 
Green  herbage.     (See  205,  idem.) 

greenness 
(of) 

green  herbage 

l£ 

For. 

for 

n/^x 

AT^T 
:i~ 

Ti 

Food 
And. 
It  was. 

food  ; 
and 
it  was 

:P 

So,  so  established.     (See  No.  121, 
idem.) 

so  established. 

-3 

And. 

And 

an 

Saw. 

saw 

tirfcH 

God. 

God 

"n^ 

Also.     (See  No.  5,  idem.) 

also 

T 

All,  every. 
Which. 

all 
which 

nby 

T    T 
~] 

He  made,      (See  No.  95,  idem.) 
And. 

He  made, 
and, 

"nyi 

3l!D 

Behold. 

Good,  beautiful,   etc.      (See  No, 
48,  idem.) 

behold, 
(it  was) 

good 

A  : 

Very,  exceedingly. 
And. 

very  ; 
and 

~n 

There  was. 

there  was 

3>$ 

Evening. 

evening 

999 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 


No. 

Hebrew  text 

Definition. 

Translation. 

G50 

-1 

And. 

and 

6GO 

"Tl 

There  was. 

there  was 

GG1 

"ICQ 

Morning. 

morning 

GG2 

DV1 

Day,  period,  time.     (See  No.  76, 
idem.) 

period 

CG3 

-n 

The. 

the 

6G4 

B  P$$ 

Sixth. 

sixth. 

r  • 

The   First  Verse    of    the    Second   Chapter   of 

Genesis,    is   as   follows  : 

No. 

Hebrew  text 

Definition. 

Translation. 

665 

-^ 

And. 

And 

666 

fe 

Were  completed,  made  ready,  pre- 
pared,  finished,   accomplished, 
fulfilled,  to  be  past,  gone  by,  of 
a  space  of  time? 

were  finished 

667 

-n 

The. 

the 

668 
669 

•  —  T 
-1 

Heaven.     (See  No.  7,  idem.) 
And. 

heaven 
and 

670 
G71 
G7J 

-ri 

r» 

The. 
Earth. 
And. 

the 
earth, 
and 

G73 

T 

All,  totality,  the  whole,  every  one. 
(See  No.  385,  idem.) 

all 
(their) 

674 

ITT  : 

Army,    host,    whatever    fills    the 
heaven  and  earth;  verb,  to  cause, 
to  go  forth. 

host. 

THE    PLAN    OF   CREATION. 


223 


The    following    is    the    Fourth   Verse    of    the 
Second    Chapter    of  Genesis. 


Hibrew  text 

Definition. 

|       Translation. 

*™1  S  V 

These,   this,   refers  to    what  has 

This 

gone  before. 

(is) 

nrfan 

:     i 

Genealogy,  pedigree,   the  origin, 
history.     Root,  to  create,  to  be 

born,  to  bring  forth. 

the  origin 

(of) 

-n 

The. 

the 

OW' 

Heaven.     (See  No.  7,  idem,) 

heaven 

-1 

And. 

and 

-ri 

The. 

the 

T 

rt 

Earth.     [The  Universe,  See  Nos. 
7-11,  idem.] 

earth 

0 

~'^3 

In  their. 

in  their 

DfcTQ 

Being  created.  (See  No.  3,  idem.) 

being  created, 

AT  :IT 

-3 

In  the. 

in  the 

DV 

Day,  time,  period.  (See  7G,  idem.) 

period 

t 

(of) 

nii^y 

Making  ;   verb,   to  labor  upon  or 

. 

about  a  thing,  to  fabricate,  to 

create    [embodies   the   idea    to 

create  and  afterwards  form  the 

material  into  something]. 

making 

nirp 

Jehovah. 

Jehovah 

D^N 

God. 

God 

V1X 

Earth.     (See  No.  11,  idem.) 

earth 

j 

And. 

and 

iD^d 

Heaven.  [The  Universe,  See  Nos. 

•ITT 

7-11,  idem."! 

heaven. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE    IDEAS    CONTAINED    IN    THE    FIRST    CHAPTER   OF 
GENESIS. 

The  foregoing  translation,  being  a  literal  one, 
of  necessity  follows  the  Hebrew  idiom,  and, 
therefore,  fails  to  fully  and  clearly  convey  the 
ideas  contained  in  the  Hebrew.  We,  therefore, 
take  the  liberty  of  wording  in  the  English  lan- 
guage the  ideas  embodied  within  the  original 
text. 

Many  of  the  Hebrew  words  convey  a  mean- 
ing that  can  be  expressed  only  by  the  use  of 
several  English  words.  Most  of  the  sentences 
in  the  original  also  require  several  sentences  in 
English  to  express  fully  the  meaning  of  the 
text.  In  the  first  sentence  of  the  following 
•translation  we  have  twenty-six  words.  In  the 
'original  text  there  are  but  seven  compound 
words,  or  eleven  simple  words.  Yet  it  takes 
the  twenty-six  English  words  to  fully  convey 
the  meaning  of  the  eleven  Hebrew  words. 


THE    PLAN    OF   CREATION.  225 

Translation. 

In  the  beginning  God  created,  out  of  noth- 
ing, the  atoms  of  matter,  now  forming  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  ;  agitation  and  motion 
existed  contemporaneous  with  matter. 

And  the  earth  at  that  time  was  not  formed  or 
shaped;  it  was  a  part  of  the  confused  mass  of 
matter.  And  darkness  existed  throughout  the 
mass  of  matter  which  was  in  motion  ;  and  at- 
traction of  gravitation  was  moving  throughout 
the  mass  of  agitated  matter,  which  was  assum- 
ing the  appearance  of  a  fluid  in  motion. 

And  God  willed  that  light  should  exist,  and 
it  existed. 

And  God  saw  the  light  that  it  was  adapted 
to  cause  enjoyment  •  and  God  separated  the 
light  from  the  darkness. 

And  God  named  a  space  of  light  day,  and  a 
space  of  the  darkness  he  named  night;  and  there 
was  evening,  and  there  was  morning.  The  pe- 
riod of  time  during  which  the  foregoing  events 
occurred  is  the  first  of  a  series  to  follow. 

And  God  willed  that  there  should  be  an  ex- 
panse or  attenuated  space  between  the  waters 


226  THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 

or  fluid  matter.  And  God  completed  this  ex- 
panse or  thin  space  between  the  waters  or  fluids, 
which  arc  above  the  expanse.  And  it  was  so 
established  (as  a  permanent  thing). 

This  expanse  God  called  Heaven.  And  there 
was  evening,  and  there  was  morning.  The 
period  of  time  in  which  this  occurred  is  the 
second  in  the  series. 

And  God  willed  that  the  waters,  or  fluid  sur- 
rounding the  earth  and  enveloping  it,  should  be 
gathered  together  into  one  place,  and  that  the 
hot,  dry  land  should  appear.  And  it  was  so 
established  (as  a  permanent  thing). 

The  dry  land  God  called  earth;  the  gathering 
together  of  the  waters  he  called  seas.  And  God 
saw  that  it  was  adapted  to  cause  enjoyment. 

And  God  willed  that  the  earth  should  sprout 
forth  young  grass,  and  green  herb  producing 
seed,  and  trees  producing  fruit  to  its  species, 
having  seed  in  it.  And  it  was  so  established 
(as  a  permanent  thing). 

And  the  earth  brought  forth  young  grass  and 
green  herb  producing  seed  of  its  own  species. 
And  God  saw  that  it  was  adapted  to  cause  en- 
joyment. 


THE    PLAN    OF   CREATION.  227 

And  there  was  evening,  and  there  was  morn- 
ing. The  period  in  which  this  occurred  was 
the  third  in  the  series. 

And  God  said  let  the  luminaries  in  the  ex- 
panse above  be  to  divide  between  the  day  and 
night,  and  they  shall  be  for  signs,  and  for  fixed 
spaces  of  time,  and  for  days,  and  for  repetition 
of  them. 

And  they  shall  be  for  luminaries  in  the  ex- 
panse above,  to  give  light  upon  the  earth.  And 
it  was  so  established  (as  a  permanent  thing). 

And  God  designed  the  two  great  luminaries, 
the  great  for  the  ruling  of  the  day,  and  the 
small  luminary  and  the  stars  for  the  ruling  of 
the  night. 

And  God  set  them  in  the  expanse  above,  to 
give  light  upon  the  earth,  and  to  rule  in  the 
day,  and  in  the  night,  and  to  divide  between 
the  light  and  the  darkness.  And  God  saw  that 
it  was  adapted  to  cause  enjoyment. 

And  there  was  evening,  and  there  was  morn- 
ing. The  period  in  which  this  occurred  was 
the  fourth  in  the  scries. 

And  God  willed  that  the  waters  should  bring 


228  THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION. 

forth  abundantly  aquatic  animals,  and  air- 
breathing  creatures,  and  living  things ;  and 
that  fowls  should  fly  upon  the  earth  in  the  air. 

And  God  created  the  great  sea  monsters,  and 
every  breathing,  living,  creeping  creature,  which 
the  waters  brought  forth  abundantly,  each  ac- 
cording to  its  species.  And  God  saw  that  it 
was  adapted  to  produce  enjoyment. 

And  God  caused  them  to  flourish,  establish- 
ing it  as  a  law  that  they  should  be  fruitful  and 
multiply  and  fill  the  waters  in  the  seas,  and 
that  the  fowl  should  multiply  in  the  earth. 

And  there  was  evening,  and  there  was  morn- 
ing. The  period  of  time  in  which  this  occurred 
was  the  fifth  in  the  series. 

And  God  willed  that  the  earth  should  bring 
forth  living  creatures  that  breathe,  producing 
each  its  own  species.  All  kinds  of  land  ani- 
mals, wild  animals,  domestic  animals,  and  every- 
thing that  crawls  or  creeps,  each  producing  its 
own  species.  And  it  was  so  established  (as  a 
permanent  thing). 

And  God  made  all  the  animals  of  the  earth, 
each  according  to  its  species ;  the  cattle  to  its 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION.  229 

species  ;  everything  creeping  on  the  ground,  each 
to  its  species.  And  God  saw  that  it  was  adapt- 
ed to  produce  enjoyment. 

And  God  said  let  us  make  man  in  our  image, 
according  to  our  likeness,  and  let  them  rule 
over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl  of 
heaven,  and  over  the  cattle,  and  over  all  the 
earth,  and  over  all  the  moving  things  which 
move  upon  the  earth. 

And  God  created  the  man  in  his  image,  in 
the  image  of  God  he  created  him,  male  and  fe- 
male. 

And  God  caused  them  to  prosper,  and  God 
established  it  as  a  law  that  they  should  be 
fruitful  and  be  multiplied,  and  fill  the  earth  and 
subdue  it,  and  rule  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and 
over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  every  animal 
which  is  moving  upon  the  earth. 

And  God  said,  Behold,  I  have  given  to  you 
all  grass  producing  seed  which  is  upon  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth,  and  every  fruit  tree  produc- 
ing seed,  to  you  it  shall  be  for  food;  and  to 
every  beast  of  the  earth,  and  to  every  fowl  of 
the  air,  and  to  every  living,  moving  thing  upon 


u 


230  THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 

the  earth  (/  have  given)  every  green  herb  for 
food.  And  it  was  so  established  (as  a  perma- 
nent thing). 

And  God  saw  all  that  lie  had  made,  and,  be- 
hold, it  was  very  well  adapted  to  produce  en- 
joyment. And  there  was  evening,  and  there 
was  morning.  The  period  in  which  this  occur- 
red was  the  sixth  in  the  series. 

In  Genesis,  chapter  2.  verse  1  and  4,  is  the 
following:  "Thus  were  finished  the  heavens 
and  earth  and  all  their  hosts.  *  *  *  * 

"The  foregoing  is  the  origin  of  the  heavens 
and  earth  in  their  being  created  during  the 
period  in  which  Jehovah  God,  created  and 
formed  the  universe." 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

DO  THE  STATEMENTS  IN  THE  FIRST   CHAPTER  OF  GENE- 
SIS CORRESPOND  WITH  THE  FACTS  IN  NATURE? 

Iii  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  endeavored 
to  place  in  English  words  and  idiom  the  ideas 
embodied  in  the  original  Hebrew  text.  The 
question  now  arises:  Are  these  ideas  in  har- 
mony with  the  facts  in  nature?  In  this  chapter 
we  will  give  a  brief  outline  of  the  facts  as 
ascertained  by  science,  each  group  of  facts  fol- 
lowed by  tho  words  used  by  Moses  to  describe 
them. 

The  period  of  time  extends  from  the  creation 
of  matter  to  the  creation  of  man.     It  embraces 
a  period  of   many  millions   of  years.     If  the 
history  of  the  facts  occurring  each  year  were 
written  it  would  fill  a  multitude  of  volumes 
If  we  limit  a  writer  to  the  use  of  one  volume 
he  could  not  enter  in  it  the  prominent  occur 
rences  of  each  acre  of  a  million  vears.     Where- 


232  THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 

as,  if  he  is  limited  to  the  use  of  less  than  seven 
hundred  words,  as  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis 
is,  he  could  but  refer  in  the  most  general  terms 
to  a  few  prominent  events.  The  class  of  events 
would  be  limited  to  such  as  were  pertinent  to 
the  general  objects  of  the  writer. 

With  Moses  the  general  objects  were  of  a 
moral  nature,  and  the.  facts  in  creation  recorded 
by  him  would  be  relative  to  that  subject.  The 
reader  must  not,  therefore,  look  upon  the  first 
chapter  of  Genesis  as  a  work  on  astronomy, 
or  geology,  but  as  a  brief  statement  of  some 
facts  in  nature,  bearing  on  the  great  moral  and 
religious  subjects  which  were  the  leading  ob- 
jects of  the  writer. 

With  these  preliminary  remarks,  we  pass  to 
the  subject  in  hand.  In  Chapter  II  herein  it  is 
shown  that  God  created  the  matter,  which 
forms  the  material  universe  in  a  gaseous  or  dif 
fused  state,  scattered  throughout  space.  That 
act  was  the  beginning  of  the  present  order  of 
things  with  which  man  is  connected.  Moses 
wrote:  "In  the  beginning  God  created,  out  of 
nothing,  the  substance  of  the  heavens  and  the 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION.  233 

earth,"  that  is  the  universe.  At  that  period 
the  earth  was  not  formed.  The  matter  now 
constituting  the  earth  was  diffused  in  space, 
mixed  with  the  confused  mass  of  all  matter. 
Of  this  fact  Moses  wrote:  "And  the  earth  was 
without  form  and  m  confusion." 

Darkness  at  first  prevailed  throughout  the 
boundless  abyss  or  expanse  of  space  and  matter. 
Light  is  a  vibration  of  the  atoms  of  matter, 
generally  caused  by  condensation  or  contraction, 
accompanied  by  chemical  action.  Darkness, 
therefore,  was  the  predecessor  and  accompani- 
ment of  the  creation  of  matter.  Moses  records 
this  fact  as  follows :  "  And  darkness  was  through- 
out the  mass  of  matter."  Instantly  on  the  ex- 
istence of  matter  it  was  agitated  and  put  in 
motion  by  attraction  of  gravitation. 

The  law  of  gravitation,  as  announced  by 
science,  is  this:  "Every  particle  of  matter  in 
the  universe  attracts  every  other  particle  with 
a  force  directly  as  their  masses,  and  inversely 
as  the  square  of  the  distance  which  separates 
them."  Motion  was  contemporaneous  with  the 
beginning  of  the  existence  of  matter.  The 


234  THE   PLAN   OF    CREATION. 


word  rPEttrn,  translated  "in  the  beginning/' 
used  by  Moses,  the  first  word  in  the  chapter,  is 
from  the  root  to  be  moved,  to  le  shaken.  (See 
words  Nos.  1  and  2,  page  190).  There  are  six 
words  in  the  Hebrew  language  translated  begin- 
ning. Only  one  of  the  six.  indicates  motion. 
That  one  is  selected  by  Moses,  evidently  indi- 
cating that  motion  was  contemporaneous  with 
the  existence  of  matter.  The  words  ^D  and 
Cinn  (Nos.  22  and  24,  page  191),  also  indicate 
the  same  idea  of  motion. 

Matter  was  not  only  put  in  motion,  but  at- 
traction of  gravitation  drew  it  together  at  cer- 
tain points  or  centres,  forming  nebulce  of  various 
densities.  Matter  would  thus  assume  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  fluid  as  it  was  drawn  together. 
This  power  of  gravitation  producing  motion 
was  throughout  the  whole  mass  of  matter  in 
space.  Moses  describes  these  facts  as  follows: 
"A  power  of  God  was  moving  and  trembling 
throughout  the  turning  mass  of  tottering,  shak- 
ing, moving,  agitated  flowing  fluid."  (See 
words  Nos.  25,  32,  pages  191  and  192.) 

The  vast  distances  over  which  matter  moved, 


THE   PLAN   OF    CREATION.  235 

with  ever  accelerating  velocity,  would  give 
great  momentum  to  the  atoms.  These  rushing 
into  the  various  centres  would  produce  conden- 
sation, thus  causing  light. 

Dim  as  the  gray  dawn  of  the  morning  it 
would  be  at  first,  imperceptibly  lessening  the 
universal  night.  As  condensation  of  matter  in- 
creased, the  vibrations  of  light  became  more 
numerous.  Here  and  there  shot  out  one  ray  of 
light  after  another  in  quick  succession,  until 
the  whole  universe  would  be  filled  with  light. 
This  fact  Moses  records  as  follows:  "And  God 
willed  that  light  exist,  and  light  existed." 

During  this  light  period  there  was  no  dark- 
ness in  the  universe.  Every  nebula  was  emit- 
ting light.  Further  condensation  changed  every 
body  of  matter  into  a  brilliant  sun.  All  the 
bodies  in  the  universe  were  luminous.  It  was 
a  great  universal  day,  throughout  matter  in 
space,  following  the  preceding  universal  dark- 
ness. There  was  no  separation  of  light  from 
darkness.  There  were  no  opaque  bodies  to  cast 
a  shadow.  It  was  a  blazing  universe  of  fire. 
(See  Plate  1.) 


236  THE   PLAN    OF  CREATION. 

But  as  ages  rolled  on  the  smaller  bodies 
cooled  off  and  ceased  to  be  luminous.  Then 
they  cast  shado.ws.  Light  and  darkness  were 
thus  separated,  one  from  the  other,  for  the  first 
time.  (See  Plate  2.) 

A  space  of  light  would  be  day.  A  space  of 
darkness  would  be  night.  The  words  day  and 
night  are  names  applicable  only  to  these  spaces 
of  light  and  darkness.  The  revolution  of  these 
non-luminous  bodies,  these  planets,  on  their 
axes,  caused  evening  and  morning,  day  and 
night.  Moses  records  these  events  in  appro- 
priate words:  "And God  separated  between  the 
light  and  between  the  darkness.  A  space  of 
light  God  called  the  day,  a  space  of  darkness 
He  called  night.  And  there  was  evening,  and 
there  was  morning.  The  period  in  which  the 
foregoing  occurred  is  the  first  of  a  series." 

The  scientific  facts  recorded  by  Moses  in  the 
first  day  or  period  of  creation  are:  The  creation 
of  matter  from  nothing ;  its  contemporaneous 
motion  or  agitation,  and  the  general  effects  of 
gravitation  ;  the  existence  of  darkness  through- 
out matter,  followed  by  the  existence  of  light ; 


THE  PLAN   OF   CREATION.  237 

the  separation  of  light  from  darkness  by  bodies 
of  matter  ceasing  to  be  luminous  and  thus  cast- 
ing shadows  ;  a  space  of  light  constituting  day, 
and  a  space  of  darkness  constituting  night ;  the 
existence  of  evening  and  morning  caused  by  the 
revolution  of  the  planets  on  their  axes.  The 
period  of  time  during  which  the  foregoing  oc- 
curred is  the  first  of  the  series. 

For  ages  after  the  earth  ceased  to  be  lumi- 
nous it  was  a  globe  of  molten  lava,  during 
which  period  all  the  water  in  the  oceans  and 
rivers  was  in  the  space  above  and  around  the 
earth.  The  carbon,  now  in  the  vegetation  and 
coal  Gelds  of  the  earth,  as  well  as  all  the  easily 
vaporized  substances,  were  floating  in  the  air. 
As  this  vast  body  of  steam  and  vapor  passed 
up  into  the  higher  altitudes  of  the  air,  into  the 
cold  regions  of  space,  it  would  be  condensed, 
and,  forming  a  fluid,  would  fall  toward  the  earth 
as  a  deluging  rain.' 

The  intense  heat  of  the  molten  earth  would 
vaporize  the  descending  torrent,  projecting  it 
in  vast  volumes  of  steam  and  vapor  again  into 

the  cold  region  above,  to  repeat  the  process  of 

11* 


238  THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

condensation  and  rain.     Similar  phenomena  are 
now  occurring  in  the  planet  Jupiter. 

The  earth  would  thus  be  a  globe  of  molten 
lava  within  a  sphere  of  water  and  steam.  There 
would  exist  a  space  between  the  earth's  surface 
and  this  overhanging  body  of  water  a  number 
of  miles  in  height,  which  would  be  filled  with 
various  vaporized  substances.  (See  Plate  3.) 

As  the  earth  cooled  by  radiation  of  heat  this 
vast  body  of  water  would  settle  upon  the  earth, 
thus  leaving  an  expanse  or  space  between  the 
waters  which  were  on  the  earth's  surface  and 
the  waters  in  the  clouds.  Similar  spaces  would 
occur  between  the  different  systems  of  the  uni- 
verse. 

Moses  enters  in  the  record :  "  And  God  willed 
that  there  be  an  expanse,  a  thin  space,  between 
the  waters:  and  let  it  divide  the  waters  from 
the  waters.  And  Gocl  completed  the  expanse, 
and  divided  between  the  waters  which  arc  be- 
neath the  expanse,  and  between  the  waters 
which  are  above  the  expanse.  And  it  was  so 
established  as  a  permanent  thing.  God  named 
this  expanse  heaven.  And  there  was  evening, 


THE  PLAN  OF  CREATION.  239 

and  there  was  morning.  This  was  the  second 
period  in  the  series." 

As  the  earth  was  cooling  it  would  be  a 
smooth,  round,  or  nearly  round,  globe,  with  a 
thick  crust  of  hardened  hot  lava.  When  the 
water  settled  down  upon  the  earth  it  would  be 
one  vast,  ocean.  Fissures  and  cracks  would 
occur  in  the  crust  through  which  the  water 
would  reach  the  internal  molten  matter. 
Chemical  forces  would  be  released ;  the  land 
would  be  upheaved,  or  depressions  occur,  form- 
ing mountains,  islands,  and  continents.  The 
waters  would  rush  down  into  the  depressions, 
forming  the  seas  and  oceans. 

The  final  result  of  these  changes  is  recorded 
by  Moses:  "And  God  willed  that  the  waters 
beneath  the  heavens  be  gathered  together  into 
one  place,  and  the  dry  land  shall  be  seen.  And 
it  was  so  established  as  a  permanent  thing. 
The  hot,  dry  land  God  named  earth,  and  the 
gathering  together  of  the  waters  he  named 


seas." 


For  ages  terrific  storms  and  deluging  rains 
swept  over  these  barren  continents  of  hot,  hard 


240  THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 

lava.  The  waters  were  undoubtedly  filled  with 
various  chemicals,  making  the  oceans  and  rivers 
great  bodies  of  acids  and  corrosive  compounds. 
The  foregoing  events  occurred  some  time  prior 
to  the  Carboniferous  periods.  They  began  at  a 
time  when  the  earth  was  too  hot  to  sustain  life 
of  any  kind.  The  waters,  as  before  stated, 
were  oceans  and  rivers  of  acids  and  corrosive 
compounds  of  such  a  character  that  neither 
animal  nor  vegetable  germs  of  life  could  exist. 
But  as  the  various  atoms  united  to  the  other 
atoms  for  which  they  had  the  strongest  chemical 
affinity,  a  comparative  equilibrium  would  be  es- 
tablished. 

Chemical  action   would  abate.      The   waters 

would  become  pure  and  fit  to  sustain  life.     The 

4*  h 
first  pure  water  would  be  fro|  Main,  and  would 

be  found  in  the  springs  and  rivers  and  on  the 
land. 

Vegetable  life  on  land  would  be  the  first  pos- 
sible life.  Owing  to  the  vast  quantity  of  chem- 
ical substances  held  in  solution  in  the  oceans, 
and  injected  therein  from  submarine  fissures 
and  volcanoes,  and  washed  down  from  the  land, 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION,  241 

life  would  not  be  possible  in  the  ocean,  even  in 
a  vegetable  form,  until  ages  after  vegetable  life 
had  existed  on  the  land. 

By  the  prior  chemical  action  and  disintegra- 
tion of  rocks,  soil  would  be  formed  and  be  washed 
down  into  the  valleys  and  depressions  until  it 
had  accumulated  in  vast  quantities.  Out  of 
this  soil  young  grass  would  first  sprout,  and  as 
the  soil  became  enriched  by  the  decay  of  vege- 
tation, and  as  the  earth  became  cooler,  larger 
trees  would  spring  up.  God  having  planted,  as 
it  were,  in  the  ground  the  life-giving  principle 
instead  of  creating  full  grown  vegetation. 

Moses  records  the  concluding  facts  in  the 
foregoing  series:  "  And  God  willed,  let  the  earth 
sprout  forth  young  grass,  green  herbage  pro- 
ducing seed,  and  fruit  tree  producing  fruit,"  etc. 
"And  the  earth  brought  forth  young  grass, 
green  herbs,  producing  seed  of  its  species,  and 
tree  producing  fruit,  having  seed  in  it  to  ils 
species.  And  there  was  evening,  and  there  was 
morning.*  This  was  the  third  period."  This 
third  period,  closed  probably  during  the  Pale- 
ozoic age. 


242  THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

Down  to  the  close  of  the  foregoing  period, 
arid  long  thereafter,  the  earth  was  surrounded 
by  a  dense  volume  of  smoke  and  vapor.  All 
the  carbon  now  existing  in  the  coal  fields  and 
in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  and  a  vast  quantity 
of  gases  now  united  with  various  minerals,  were 
in  the  air.  During  the  day  there  might  be  a 
dim  and  glimmering  light,  lessening  the  gloom. 
In  the  night  a  deeper  and  more  horrid  darkness 
would  settle  upon  the  earth. 

N"o  sunlight  or  light  from  the  moon  or  stars 
could  have  reached  the  surface  of  the  earth 
through  these  clouds  of  thick  darkness.  The 
growth  of  vegetable  matter,  and  the  forming  of 
chemical  compounds,  gradually  cleared  the 
atmosphere.  The  sun,  moon,  and  stars  appeared 
in  the  expanse  above  in  all  their  splendor. 
Then  it  was  that  they  first  poured  their  efful- 
gent rays  upon  the  earth,  gilding  the  hills  and 
valleys.  For  the  first  time  mountain  streams 
and  ocean  waves  leaped  and  sparkled  in  the  sun- 
light ;  and  as  the  sun  sank  behind  the  western 
hills,  or  dipped  into  the  ocean  waves,  the 
mountains,  the  clouds,  and  the  ocean  were 


THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION.  243 

tinged  and  painted  with  all  the  beauties  of  u 
gorgeous  sunset.  While  the  deepening  shades 
of  night  were  chasing  twilight  from  the  western 
sky  the  moon  and  stars  came  forth  one  by  one, 
until  the  crystal  vault  above  was  filled  with 
sparkling  gems.  Their  soft,  silvery  light  falling 
upon  the  peaceful  earth  made  it  like  a  phan- 
tom land.  The  scenes  of  that  age  were  beauti- 
ful, were  beautiful  beyond  description,  compared 
with  those  of  the  preceding  ages,  extending 
long,  dreary,  and  forbidding,  back  to  the  crea- 
tion of  matter.  This  is  the  first  period  in 
which  it  can  be  said  the  sun  ruled  by  day,  and 
the  moon  by  night. 

Never  before  did  the  sun  and  moon  give 
light  to  the  earth  ;  never  before  did  they  di- 
vide the  light  from  the  darkness,  so  far  as  the 
earth  is  concerned.  Now  it  is  seen  that  they 
arc  appointed  to  give  light  and  heat  to  the 
earth,  without  which  the  earth  would  long  since 
have  lost  its  heat,  and  become  too  cold  to  sus- 
tain the  present  forms  of  life.  For  the  first 
time  they  now  become  visible  signs  to  the 
earth  for  set  times,  for  days  and  years,  arid 


244  THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 

repetition  of  the  same.  Moses  gives  a  substan- 
tial account  of  the  foregoing  events  as  follows: 
"And  God  said  let  the  luminaries  in  the  ex- 
panse above  bo  to  divide  between  the  clay  and 
between  the  night,  and  they  shall  be  for  signs, 
and  for  set  times,  and  for  days  and  repetitions, 
they  shall  be  for  luminaries  in  the  expanse  of 
heaven  to  give  light  upon  the  earth.  And  it 
was  so  established  as  a  permanent  thing."  [The 
phrase,  u  it  icas  so  established^  seems  to  be  used 
in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  to  denote  the  fin- 
ishing of  a  matter,  so  that  it  remained  in  the  con- 
dition that  we  now  find  it.  Since  the  time  in- 
dicated by  the  phrase,  "it  was  so  established"  no 
change  has  occurred  in  the  thing  referred  to  in 
its  general  character.  Prior  to  that  time  it  was 
in  a  transition  period.] 

"And  God  made  (or  provided)  two  great 
luminaries.  The  great  for  ruling  the  day,  the 
small  luminary  and  the  stars  for  ruling  the 
night.  And  God  set  them  in  the  expanse  of 
heaven  to  give  light  upon  the  earth,  and  to  rule 
in  the  clay  and  in  the  night,  and  to  divide  be- 
tween the  light  and  between  the  darkness.  And 


THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION.  245 

God  saw  that  it  was  adapted  to  produce  enjoy- 
ment. And  there  was  evening,  and  there  was 
morning.  This  was  the  fourth  period  in  the 


scries." 


The  Hebrew  text  docs  not  intimate  that  the 
sun,  moon,  or  stars  were  created  during  this 
period.  It  indicates  the  contrary.  The  Hebrew 
word  create  is  (iba-ra"  and  this  word  is  not 
used  in  the  account  of  the  fourth  day.  Words 
are  used  which  have  no  reference  to  creation,  as 
will  be  seen  by  examining  the  translation  in 
Chapter  XIX. 

Vegetable  life  commenced  in  the  third  period, 
and  was  the  first  life  possible  on  the  earth. 
During  subsequent  ages  the  growth  of  vegeta- 
tion continued  to  increase.  The  earth  became 
cooler,  the  water  of  the  ocean  became  purer, 
by  reason  of  matter  forming  chemical  com- 
pounds of  various  kinds.  This  great  laboratory 
of  the  earth  was  reaching  an  equilibrium. 
When  sufficiently  pure  to  sustain  animal  life, 
then  life  appeared  in  the  waters. 

Geological  researches  show  that  in  the  earliest 
ages  in  which  animal  life  appeared,  or  was  ere- 


246  THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 

ated,  it  consisted  of  small  aquatic  and  creeping 
reptiles.  About  the  same  time,  or  a  little  later, 
great  numbers  of  gregarious  and  aquatic  birds 
made  their  appearance.  They  lived  along  the 
shores  of  the  great  oceans.  Their  tracks  vary 
in  size  from  two  to  twenty-five  inches  ;  their 
steps  were  sometimes  a  distance  of  six  feet. 
There  were  reptiles  so  large  that  we  of  the 
present  day  can  hardly  believe  in  their  exist- 
ence. 

Some  batrachians,  of  the  frog  tribe,  were  as 
large  as  an  ox  ;  another  must  have  been  as  large 
as  an  elephant.  Still  later  the  oceans  were 
filled  with  great  sea  monsters.  Among  these 
were  the  Plesiosaurus,  seventeen  feet  long ;  the 
Ichthyosaurus,  whose  jaws  were  so  long  that  the 
opening  of  the  mouth  must  have  exceeded  seven 
feet ;  the  Megalosaurus,  thirty  feet  long ;  the 
Cetiosaurus,  sixty  feet  long.  The  Pliosaurus 
rivaled  in  size  the  largest  whales.  Later  in  the 
Mesozoic  period  appeared  the  Iguanodon,  from 
twenty-five  to  fifty  feet  in  length.  In  addition 
to  these  were  monsters  resembling  the  croco- 
diles of  the  present  day. 


THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION.  247 

There  were  also  many  creeping  amphibious 
and  creeping  land  animals.  The  seas  and  oceans 
were  densely  inhabited  by  these  reptiles  during 
the  whole  of  the  Mesozoic  period. 

Moses  describes  the  occurrences  of  this  peri- 
od as  follows:  "And  God  willed,  let  the  waters 
bring  forth  abundantly  creeping  things,  aquatic 
animals,  winged  reptiles,  living,  breathing  creat- 
ures, and  let  fowl  or  flying  things  fly  upon  the 
earth,  in  the  expanse  of  heaven.  And  God 
created  great  sea  monsters,  and  every  breathing, 
living,  creeping  creature,  which  the  waters 
brought  forth  abundantly,  each  according  to  its 
species.  And  God  blessed  (caused  to  prosper) 
them,  saying:  Be  fruitful  and  multiply  and  fill 
the  waters  in  the  seas,  and  the  fowl  let  multiply 
in  the  earth.  And  there  was  evening,  and  there 
was  morning.  This  was  the  fifth  period." 

The  beginning  and  ending  of  the  fifth  period 
does  not  appear  to  be  definitely  marked  by 
any  geological  event.  It  embraces  the  period 
wherein  animals  first  appeared  in  the  oceans  and 
along  rivers,  lakes,  gulfs,  bays,  and  swamps. 
Aquatic  and  amphibious  animals  are  the  kinds 


248  THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION. 

described  as  created  in  this  period.  As  ages 
passed  by  the  earth  became  cooler,  the  waters 
lost  their  acid  compounds,  and  the  air  became 
freed  from  noxious  impurities,  so  that  earth, 
sea,  and  air  became  about  as  they  are  now.  The 
preceding  race  of  animals  died  out.  Then  fol- 
lowed a  new  and  distinct  race  of  animals,  aquat- 
ic, terrestrial,  and  amphibious.  They  appear  in 
what  is  known  as  the  Tertiary  and  Quarternary 
periods,  the  latter  of  which  includes  the  pres- 
ent. These  two  periods  differ  widely  from  any 
of  the  preceding  geological  ages  in  the  forms  of 
life. 

The  animals  were  such  as  had  never  before 
made  their  appearance  on  the  earth.  Among 
them  are  found  deer,  antelope,  species  of  the 
dog,  otter,  beaver,  hare,  water-rat,  glutton,  and 
horses.  At  the  same  time  there  lived  the 
Sivatherium,  similar  to,  but  larger,  than  the 
'Rhinoceros;  the  Anoplotherium  and  Paleotheri- 
um  were  animals  of  the  pachydermatous  species. 
The  Diuotheriutn,  eighteen  feet  in  length;  Ele- 
phas  Primogenius,  nine  feet  high,  sixteen  feet 
long,  not  including  the  tusks,  which  were  nine 


THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION.  249 

feet  around  the  curve  ;  the  Megatherium,  eigh- 
teen feet  long,  six  feet  across  the  pelvis,  tail  two 
feet  wide,  legs  three  times  as  thick  as  the  largest 
elephant.  These  were  only  a  few  of  the  large 
mammalia,  which  during  these  periods  inhabited 
the  earth.  In  the  rocks  of  these  ages  are  found 
the  remains  of  all  the  present  orders  of  mam- 
malia, except  man.  which  is  the  only  one  not 
appearing  until  the  close  of  these  periods. 
These  remains  are  found  in  none  but  the  recent 
deposits. 

Man  was  not  created,  as  shown  by  geological 
records,  until  after  the  other  animals.  No  in- 
stance has  been  discovered  wherein  any  animal 
appeared  for  the  first  time  subsequent  to  man. 
When  man  came,  he  came  as  ruler  over  all  the 
animal  kingdom,  and  he  is  now  subduing  the 
whole  earth. 

Moses  describes  the  events  above  referred  to 
as  follows:  "And  God  willed,  let  the  earth  bring 
forth  (root,  let  go  forth)  living,  breathing  creat- 
ures, each  to  its  species,  beasts,  large  land 
quadrupeds,  domestic  animals,  cattle,  beasts  of 
the  field,  wild  beasts,  and  reptiles.  Whatever 


250  THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 

creeps  or  crawls  upon  the  earth,  and  wild  ani- 
mals, each  to  its  species,  and  it  was  so  estab- 
lished as  a  permanent  thing.  And  God  made 
all  the  animals  on  the  earth,  each  to  its  species, 
and  the  cattle  to  its  species,  and  every  creeping 
thing  of  the  ground,  each  to  its  species.  And 
God  saw  that  it  was  adapted  to  cause  enjoy- 
ment (or  suitable  for  His  plan) ;  and  God  said, 
Let  us  make  man  in  our  own  image,  accord- 
ing to  our  likeness,  and  let  them  rule  over 
the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl  of  the 
air,  and  over  the  animals,  and  over  all  the 
earth,  and  over  all  the  creeping  things  that 
creep  (or  move)  upon  the  earth.  And  God 
created  the  man  in  his  image,  in  the  likeness  of 
God  he  created  him,  male  and  female.  And 
God  caused  them  to  prosper  (blessed  them), 
and  God  said  to  them  (established  it  as  a  law), 
be  fruitful  and  be  multiplied,  and  fill  the  earth 
and  subdue  (or  control)  it,  and  rule  over  the 
fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and 
over  every  beast  which  is  moving  upon  the 
earth.  And  God  said,  Behold,  I  have  given  to 
you  every  grass  producing  seed  which  is  upon 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION.  251 

the  lace  of  all  the  earth,  and  every  fruit  tree 
that  has  seed,  to  you  it  shall  be  for  food.  And 
to  every  animal  of  the  earth,  and  to  every  fowl 
of  the  air,  and  to  every  moving  thing  upon  the 
earth,  living  creatures,  I  have  given  every  green 
herb  for  food.  And  it  was  so  established  as  a 
permanent  thing.  And  God  saw  all  that  ho 
had  made,  and  behold,  it  was  very  good  (or 
very  well  adapted  to  his  plan).  And  there 
was  evening,  and  there  was  morning.  The 
period  in  which  this  occurred  was  the  sixth  in 
the  series.  Thus  were  formed  the  heavens  and 
the  earth  and  all  their  host."  "  These  are  the 
origin  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth  (the  uni- 
verse) in  their  being  created,  during  the  period 
in  which  Jehovah,  God,  created  and  formed  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  (the  universe). — Genesis, 
2:1,4. 

Thus  close  these  remarkable  accounts,  one 
from  nature,  as  revealed  by  science  after  mor* 
than  4,000  years  of  study  and  investigation  ; 
the  other  purporting  to  have  been  dictated  by 
the  Creator  of  the  universe  and  written  by 
some  man.  The  question  is  not  whether  Moses 


252  THE    PLAN    OF   CREATION. 

has  written  an  account  of  the  early  ages  of  cre- 
ation as  you  would  write  it ;  but  whether  the 
facts  recorded  by  Moses  actually  occurred  in 
nature  and  can  be  identified. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  REVEALED  FACTS  TO  THE 
MORAL  REVELATION.  THE  CONCLUSIVE  CHARACTER 
OF  THE  EVIDENCE  WHICH  AUTHENTICATES  THIS 
REVELATION. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  six  Mosaic  peri- 
ods do  not  purport  to  be  geological  divisions. 
They  arc  six  creative,  or  formative,  periods, 
during  each  of  which  transpired  prominent 
events  in  the  history  of  the  universe  and  of  the 
earth  under  the  will  or  power  of  God  in  caus- 
ing them.  Those  events  are  mentioned  which 
arc  most  suitable  to  form  the  basis  of  correct 
and  important  moral  and  theological  proposi- 
tions, or  which  refuted  popular  errors  or  belief 
either  of  that  age  or  that  should  occur  in  future 
times.  These  facts  taught  that  Elohim,  the 
God  revealed  to  the  Jews,  created  the  substance 
of  the  universe  out  of  nothing;  that  matter  was 
not  eternal ;  that  God  was  eternal  and  omnipo- 

12 


254  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

tent,  thus  overthrowing  all  the  erroneous  beliefs 
founded  on  the  contrary  of  these  propositions. 

This  revelation  showed  that  God  established 
(or  willed)  the  power  of  gravitation,  and  the  laws 
governing  matter;  as  well  those  laws  producing 
light  out  of  darkness,  as  those  moulding  the 
earth  into  its  present  shape  ;  willing  that  vege- 
table and  animal  life  should  exist ;  willing  into 
existence  from  the  confused  mass  the  expanse 
of  heaven ;  causing  by  the  forces  established  by 
Him  the  continents  and  islands  to  appear,  and 
the  seas  to  be  formed  ;  appointing  the  sun, 
moon,  and  stars  for  the  purpose  of  giving  light 
to  the  earth,  and  for  the  purpose  of  set  times, 
days,  and  for  years,  and  recurrences  of  them, 
thus  refuting  all  assumptions  that  they  were 
divine  beings,  or  objects  of  worship. 

The  revelation  showed  that  the  animals  in  the 
ocean,  in  the  air,  and  on  the  earth,  were  brought 
into  existence  by  Him,  and  that  they  were  sub- 
jects of  man;  that  man  had  dominion  over  them. 
Therefore  they  were  not  to  be  worshipped,  as 
they  were  powerless  over  man,  being  his  sub- 
jects and  not  his  superior. 


THE    PLAN    OF   CREATION.  255 

The  facts  revealed  show  that  while  the  ani- 
mal and  vegetable  creations  seemed  to  spring 
into  existence  as  being  born  out  of  the  earth 
or  water  by  spontaneous  generation,  }^et  as  a 
fact,  however,  it  appeared  to  occur,  God 
" willed"  or  caused  that  they  should  so  come 
forth.  Unless  He  had  so  " willed"  the  events 
to  occur,  the  earth,  air,  and  water  were  power- 
less to  bring  forth. 

Whether  God  put  forth  the  creative  power 
or  will  at  each  distinct  period,  or  established 
the  law  of  life  from  the  beginning,  in  connec- 
tion with  matter,  so  that  when  the  circumstan- 
ces were  adapted,  life  sprung  forth  in  vegetables 
or  animals,  is  not  material.  In  cither  case  it 
was  God  who  "willed"  or  who  was  the  cause. 

The  Hebrew  word  nsmo  (No.  2$  page  192), 
in  Genesis,  1:  2,  translated  "  hovering"  in  the 
English  version,  also  means  "vivifying"  or 
"impregnating."  It  is  possible  that  the  orig- 
inal means  that  when  matter  was  created  and 
was  still  in  darkness  and  scattered  in  space  God 
vivified  it  and  established  the  law  of  life  in  it, 
so  that  when  circumstances  arose,  or  were  prop- 


256  THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 

erly  combined  by  such  vivifying  force,  life 
forms  resulted.  The  whole  chapter,  however, 
when  strictly  construed,  favors  the  theory  that 
God  put  forth  the  creative  or  producing  "will" 
at  different  periods,  and  those  periods  consti- 
tute the  six  periods  of  Genesis. 

The  doctrine  of  spontaneous  generation,  or 
uncreated  life,  is  certainly  and  clearly  denied  in 
the  Mosaic  account.  It  is  also  stated  that  it 
was  an  established  fact  that  each  species  was 
created  distinct,  and  the  law  established  that 
each  species  should  beget  or  produce  its  own 
kind.  That  horses  should  beget  elephants,  or 
that  apes  should  beget  men,  or  vice  versa,  is  also 
denied;  and  it  is  asserted  as  the  law  that  each 
should  produce  its  own  species. 

The  distinctive  forming  of  man's  body  out  of 
the  ground,  and  the  creation  of  his  soul,  are  as- 
serted in  terms  clear  and  unambiguous.  He  is 
not  the  descendant  of  any  prior  being.  The 
Hebrew  word  N"n  (create)  is  used  in  speak- 
ing of  him.  This  word  is  used  in  the  text  with 
reference  to  the  creation  of  matter,  and  the 
creation  of  animal  life  and  man's  soul,  but  is 


THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION.  257 

not  used  in  reference  to  vegetable  life.  It  may 
be  that  vegetable  life  is  a  property  of  matter  in 
a  limited  sense,  subject  to  the  direct  "will"  or 
permission  of  God,  and  that  animal  life  is  a  di- 
rect act  of  creative  power.  The  text  would  be 
in  harmony  with  this  theory. 

One  thing  stands  out  clear  and  unmistakable. 
The  events  described  in  the  text  find  a  counter- 
part in  nature  in  all  their  leading  points,  and  in 
the  detail  where  attempted.  In  the  age  of  the 
human  race  when  this  account  was  written  the 
race  was  not  in  possession  of  the  knowledge  of 
the  scientific  facts  described. 

The  words  in  any  language  show  the  knowl- 
edge possessed  by  the  nation  using  the  language. 
The  words  telegraph,  telegram,  steamboat,  rail- 
road, steam  printing-press,  and  scores  of  other 
words,  arc  not  to  be  found  in  the  Chaldean,  He- 
brew, Greek,  or  Latin  languages,  nor  in  the 
languages  of  any  of  the  extinct  nations  of  an- 
tiquity. Nor  arc  any  equivalent  words  or  ex- 
pressions found.  This  proves  that  such  things 
were  unknown  to  those  nations.  These  words 
do  not  occur  in  the  literature  of  modern  Ian- 


258  THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION. 

guages  until  within  the  last  century.  Why? 
Because  these  inventions  were  unknown  until 
within  that  time.  The  words  telephone  and 
phonograph  do  not  occur  in  any  language  until 
about  the  year  1877.  The  existence  of  a  name 
indicates  a  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  the 
thing  named.  If  every  human  being  were  to 
suddenly  die,  and  if  ten  thousand  years  from 
now  a  new  race  of  beings  should  come  upon  the 
earth,  who  should  find  our  books  or  dictionaries, 
they  would  know  that  we  had  knowledge  of  these 
inventions.  They  would  know  it  simply  from 
finding  the  names  of  those  things  in  our  lan- 
guage. We  find  in  the  ancient  languages  such 
words  as  knife,  sword,  bow,  and  ax.  We, 
therefore,  know  that  those  nations  had  knowl- 
edge of  such  instruments.  A  list  of  words  in 
a  language  is  all  we  need.  In  the  ancient  lan- 
guages, in  use  at  the  time  Genesis  was  written, 
there  are  no  scientific  terms  relating  to  the  sub- 
ject matter  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis.  We, 
therefore,  know  that  the  human  race  at  that 
time  was  ignorant  of  all  such  scientific  knowl- 
edge, 


THE    PLAN    OF   CREATION.  259 

Will  any  one  maintain  that  the  account  by 
Moses  was  a  guess  by  him  accidentally  right? 
Such  a  thing  is  not  possible.  There  arc  too 
many  coincidences.  The  only  reasonable  con- 
clusion is  that  the  Hebrew  text  was  dictated  in 
some  way  by  some  one  who  knew  the  facts  re- 
corded. No  human  being  knew  the  facts  at 
that  time.  Some  more  than  human  being,  there- 
fore, revealed  them  or  dictated  the  account.  It 
must  be,  therefore,  the  revelation  of  God.  This 
first  chapter  of  Genesis  is  a  standing  proof  to 
all  generations  of  a  divine  revelation.  The 
only  question  is  as  to  the  extent  of  that  revela- 
tion. The  conclusion  of  the  writer  is  this.  In 
the  Bible  is  much  that  is  known  to  be  true. 
There  is  in  connection  with  it  much  of  which 
we  can  only  assert  that  we  are  not  in  possession 
of  knowledge  sufficient  to  affirm  that  it  is  either 
true  or  false. 

On  account  of  its  intimate  blending  with  that 
which  is  known  to  be  true,  we  should  accept  it 
until  such  time  as  the  human  race  has  acquired 
knowledge  sufficient  to  pass  a  positive  opinion 
against  it.  Because  we  do  not  know  it  to  be 


260  THE  PLAN   OP   CREATION. 

true,  or  a  fact,  is  no  ground  for  asserting  it  to 
be  false.  As  well  might  the  early  Jews  have 
rejected  as  false  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  be- 
cause their  scientific  knowledge  could  neither 
test  nor  understand  it. 

Miracles  attested  it  to  them,  and  satisfied 
them  in  accepting  it.  Those  miracles  are  not 
proof  to  our  senses  of  sight  or  hearing,  but  the 
scientific  facts  revealed  are  a  proof  to  us  of  as 
great  a  certainty  as  miracles  were  to  those  be- 
holding them.  As  the  human  mind  is  consti- 
tuted no  one  of  these  classes  of  evidence  could 
have  been  used  exclusively.  For  that  which 
occurs  constantly  and  without  interruption  is 
soon  regarded  as  purely  natural,  and  not  as 
supernatural.  The  moment  it  was  regarded  as 
belonging  only  to  the  natural,  that  moment  it 
would  cease  to  be  evidence  to  prove  the  super- 
natural character  of  revelation. 

If  God  had  continued  either  by  direct  act,  or 
by  angels,  to  converse  with  man,  it  would  now 
and  for  ages  past  have  been  regarded  as  a  natu- 
ral thing,  and  man  would  have  been  ready  to 
totally  disregard  it.  In  fact,  toward  the  close 


THE  PLAN   OF   CREATION.  261 

of  the  period  during  which  God  conversed  with 
man,  the  race  was  corning  to  look  upon  it  as 
having  no  weight. 

The  manifestations  of  God  at  Sinai  were  ac- 
companied by  the  idolatry  and  wickedness  of 
the  people  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain.  So  if 
miracles  had  continued  down  to  the  present 
they  would  have  been  regarded  as  natural  events 
produced  more  or  less  by  men  having  some  pe- 
culiar knowledge. 

At  the  close  of  the  period  of  miracles  they 
had  almost  lost  their  effect  as  evidence.  The 
people  were  more  and  more  regarding  them  as 
mere  matters  of  magic  or  witchcraft.  Hence 
vast  multitudes  beheld  the  miracles  of  the  clos- 
ing period  in  Christ's  time  and  were  not  con- 
vinced by  the  evidence.  Prophecy  comes  under 
the  same  rule  and  entirely  loses  its  effect  as 
evidence  whenever  the  events  foretold  become 
a  permanent  series. 

But  the  fact  that  these  different  classes  of 
evidence  come  in  succession,  appear  for  a  while, 
and  then  cease  entirety,  fixes  them  as  conclusive 
evidence.  They  are  not  a  continuing  series. 


12* 


262  THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 

They  are  not  natural  events  running  along  in 
the  ordinary  course  of  nature  according  to  a 
fixed  law  of  cause  and  effect.  The  fact  that 
they  begin,  continue  for  a  given  period,  and 
then  cease  entirely,  shows  that  they  exist,  con- 
tinue, and  cease  as  the  act  of  a  being  with  a 
free  will.  They  were  designed  mainly  as  evi- 
dence for  the  race  during  the  ages  of  its  in- 
fancy, and  while  ignorant  of  the  laws  of  nature 
and  of  the  facts  of  the  universe.  They  were 
the  evidence  that  produced  belief  during  the 
time  wherein  man  could  not  by  scientific  dis- 
coveries test  the  facts  revealed. 

The  highest  evidence  of  the  divine  character 
of  the  revelation  is  that  the  matters  collaterally 
revealed,  which  arc  called  facts  in  science,  are 
true.  It  required,  however,  over  four  thousand 
years  of  study,  investigation,  and  intellectual 
development  to  bring  the  race  to  sufficient 
knowledge  to  enable  it  to  understand  and  re- 
ceive this  class  of  evidence.  It  is  evidence 
which  must  accumulate  from  age  to  age  as 
the  race  progresses  in  learning.  The  former 
classes  of  evidence,  direct  conversation,  rnira- 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  203 

oles,  and  prophcc}r,  carried  the  revelation 
through  the  first  four  thousand  years  or  more. 
The  other  class  of  evidence  will  carry  it  through 
to  the  end  of  time.  The  time  may  be  nearer 
than  most  anticipate  when  science  will  proclaim 
that  the  contents  of  the  Bible  arc  such  that 
no  human  being  possessed  the  knowledge  neces- 
sary to  write  it  at  the  time  it  was  written. 

Therefore,  as  a  conclusion,  we  arc  fully  justi- 
fied by  our  reason  in  accepting  the  Bible  as  a 
revelation  from  God.  Its  statements  as  to  the 
PLAN  OF  CREATION  become  legitimate  and  suffi- 
cient evidence,  as  hereinbefore  used. 

We  claim  that  the  evidence  contained  in  the 
Bible  sustains  the  plan  of  creation,  as  discussed 
in  this  work. 


CHAPTER  XXY. 
D  **  /O  ^  H  —  (°  Ovpavo?.  —  HEAVEN. 

The  Being  who  created  all  things,  and  who 
established  all  laws,  and  who  is  carrying  out  his 
plan  of  creation,  has  in  his  communication  to 
the  human  race  spoken  of  a  place  where  the 
righteous  shall  dwell  during  eternity.  This 
place  is  called  by  us  heaven.  What  and  where 
is  it? 

God,  the  omniscient  one,  who  formed  this 
heaven,  knows  what  and  where  it  is.  He  es- 
tablished the  exterior  boundary  lines  within 
which  is,  and  outside  of  which  is  not,  heaven. 
When  he  spoke  of  it  to  man  he  knew  what 
word  in  the  language  would  most  accurately 
describe  it,  and  that  word  he  would  use.  The 
first  word  used  is  the  Hebrew  C'BOT.  This  is 
the  only  word  in  that  language  which  God 
either  used,  or  caused  to  be  used,  by  his  in- 
spired writers  to  designate  heaven.  We  must, 


THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION.  265 

therefore,  conclude  that  it  does  not,  in  any  re- 
spect, inaccurately  convey  to  the  human  race 
the  idea  of  heaven  which  God  intended  to  con- 
vey, either  as  to  where  or  what  heaven  is. 

In  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  occur  these 
words:  "In  the  beginning  God  created  the 
heavens  (C^DUM)  and  the  earth."  Prior  to  this 
act  of  creation  there  was  no  heaven.  Space, 
was  a  vacuum.  C^^n  in  its  broadest  and  fullest 
use  means  the  expanse  extending  from  the  earth 
in  all  directions  to  such  a  distance  that  it  will 
include  all  that  has  been  created  and  all  that 
exists.  It  is  co-extensive  with  the  existence  of 
matter  in  space.  If  the  existence  of  what  God 
has  created  is  co- extensive  with  space  then 
heaven  is  likewise  co-extensive.  If  what  God 
has  created  is  only  in  a  limited,  though  incon- 
ceivably vast  portion  of  space,  outside  of  which 
is  a  vacuum,  then  outside  of  the  place  desig- 
nated by  C'-oun  there  is  nothing.  It  is  a  void. 

God  in  the  person  of  Christ  again  spoke  to 
man  of  heaven.  This  second  time  he  used  the 
Greek  language — a  language  prolific  in  words 
rich  to  express  ideas  in  any  form.  Christ  knew 


26 G  THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

what  words,  or  combination  of  words,  in  that 
fertile  language  would  most  accurately  and  ful- 
ly convey  to  the  mind  of  man  an  idea  of  heaven 
which  would  not  be  incorrect.  Christ  used  the 
word  fo  ovpavo?.  Like  the  Hebrew  word  it  also 
means  in  its  fullness  the  expanse  extending 
from  the  earth  in  all  directions  to  such  a  dist- 
,ance  that  it  will  include  all  that  has  been  cre- 
ated, or  all  that  exists.  It  is  co-extensive  with 
the  existence  of  matter  in  space. 

Heaven,  the  place  where  the  righteous  shall 
exist  during  eternity,  as  indicated  by  God  in 
his  revelation,  is  that  portion  of  infinite  space 
occupied  by  the  created  works  of  God. 

This  heaven  is  the  tabernacle  of  God.  It  is 
a  nousc  not  built  with  hands  eternal  in  the 
heavens,  in  which  are  many  mansions  wherein 
dwellcth  righteousness.  The  glories  of  this 
heaven  eye  hath  not  seen,  ear  hath  not  heard, 
nor  hath  the  heart  of  man  conceived.  The  eye, 
aided  by  the  most  powerful  telescopes,  has  failed 
to  see  but  a  small  part  of  the  things  contained 
therein.  No  imagination  can  picture  or  con- 
ceive of  the  wonderful  phenomena  occurring  in 


THE   PLAN    OF    CREATION.  267 

distant  or  near  portions  of  the  universe.  The 
ear  has  not  heard,  and  docs  not  hear,  the  sounds 
emanating  from  the  myriad  suns  and  aggregates 
of  matter  in  space.  All  that  has  occurred,  all 
that  is  now  occurring,  all  that  will  evolve  in  the 
future  in  this  created  universe,  and  which  in- 
telligent beings  will  behold,  are  but  symbols  in 
the  book  of  God,  conveying  ideas  to  finite 
minds.  Heaven  is  a  system  of  object  lessons. 
This  indescribably  grand  and  majestic  struct- 
ure, the  whole  material  universe  with  all  its 
laws  and  form  of  matter,  is  the  university  of 
God.  This  earth  is  but  a  preparatory  depart- 
ment wherein  we  study 'the  laws  of  nature  with 
little  experiments,  and  a  few  instruments.  In 
the  university  of  God  we  will  study  astronomy 
by  beholding  the  motions  of  planets,  suns,  stars, 
and  systems  in  space.  There  we  will  study 
chemistry  by  beholding  all  forms  of  chemical 
composition  and  decomposition  in  the  blazing 
worlds  and  suns  in  space.  These  are  laboratories 
in  God's  university.  There  God  is  the  President 
and  Instructor  of  all  sciences,  while  angels, 
arch-angels,  and  the  immortal  souls  of  men  will 


268  THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION. 

be  fellow  students  forever.  Was  it  some  such 
vision  as  this  that  passed  before  the  inspired 
writer  when  he  said  "  Eye  hath  not  seen,  neither 
hath  the  ear  heard,  nor  hath  it  entered  the  heart 
of  man,  what  God  hath  prepared  for  them  that 
love  him?'5 

This  heaven  is  the  university  of  God  where- 
in forever  he  will  educate  those  who  shall  dwell 
with  him.  There,  through  the  eternity  to  come, 
the  ever-expanding  intellectual  and  moral  nat- 
ure of  his  children  will  find  unexplored  regions 
filled  with  objects  teaching  truths  and  lessons 
ever  new  and  of  astonishing  beauty.  When 
the  universe  shall  wax  old  the  soul  of  man,  still 
in  its  immortal  youth,  will  look  upon  the  crash 
of  matter  and  the  wreck  of  worlds.  The  soul 
will  witness  the  creation  of  new  heavens,  and 
when  they  have  grown  old  and  give  place  to 
other  new  ones,  the  soul  will  not  be-  aged,  but 
on  it  will  rest  the  imperishable  vigor  of  youth. 

In  this  vast  universe,  this  dwelling  place  of 
God,  are  many  separate  systems  or  constella- 
tions, each  a  vast  system  by  itself — each,  as  it 
were,  a  stopping  place  for  beings  to  tarry  at  for 


THE   PLAN   OF    CREATION.  269 

u  time  in  their  progressing  course  of  investiga- 
tion and  study.  Was  it  to  this  that  Christ  re- 
ferred when  he  said,  "In  my  Father's  house  are 
many  mansions?"  In  the  original  Greek  the 
sentence  rends,  "In  my  Father's  dwelling  (Trj 
Dim'a)  are  many  tarrying  places  (jLiovai)"  The 
word  j^orai  denotes  a  place  apart  from  other 
places  where  one  may  tarry,  abide,  or  dwell  for 
a  time,  with  the  idea  that  the  person  will  pass 
on  to  other  places. 

There  is  no  limit  to  the  willing  power  of  the 
Omnipotent  One.  And  when  the  present  order 
of  things  has  run  its  course,  and  under  the  op- 
eration of  present  laws,  an  equilibrium  is 
reached,  then  we  may  believe  that  responsive 
to  the  creative  WILL  new  phenomena  will  occur, 
manifesting  ideas  of  God  not  shown  forth  in 
any  previous  creation.  Thus,  by  the  creation 
of  new  heavens,  God  will,  through  the  endless 
ages  of  eternity,  lead  and  educate  the  created 
intelligences.  There  shall  thus  result  the  great- 
est enjoyment,  for  the  greatest  length  of  time, 
to  the  greatest  number.  This  will  be  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  intelligent  beings  who  live  according 
to  the  laws  which  God  has  established. 


270  THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION. 

But  the  wicked,  those  who  refuse  to  live  ac- 
cording to  this  law,  what  of  them?  Christ 
says  they  shall  be  cast  into  outer  darkness — Matt., 
22  :  13  —  into  a  bottomless  pit  or  place  away 
from  the  presence  of  God.  There  is  such  a 
place  of  outer  darkness,  fathomless,  and  in  it  no 
knowledge  of  God. 

Light  is  a  vibration  of  the  atoms  of  matter. 
Where  there  are  no  atoms  of  matter  there  can 
be  no  vibration.  No  light  can  penetrate  into 
an  absolute  vacuum.  Heat  and  sound  are  also 
vibrations  among  the  atoms  of  matter.  The 
waves  of  light,  heat,  and  sound  in  vain  will 
strike  upon  the  walls  of  that  eternal,  dark,  cold, 
soundless,  formless  void.  To  these  vibrations, 
those  walls  of  nihility  are  walls  of  annihilation. 
These  waves  will  beat  and  break  in  vain  upon 
that  silent  shoreless  ocean,  limitless,  bottomless. 
In  it  is  not  a  thing  to  operate  upon  or  call 
into  exercise  the  faculties  of  souls.  In  heaven 
every  created  object,  every  law,  every  phenom- 
enon, is  but  an  enunciation  of  the  divine  thought, 
and  of  the  omnipotent  existence.  Heaven  has 
within  it  the  objects  which  are  the  actual  mani- 


THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION.  271 

festations  of  the  Holy  One.  In  the  outer  dark- 
ness, the  space  exterior  to  this  heaven,  there  is 
not  a  thing.  It  is  a  desolate  void,  a  black, 
cold,  silent  vacuum.  In  it  not  a  single  mani- 
festation of  God.  Those  who  may  go  there 
will  have  nothing  exterior  to  themselves  to  ever 
suggest  a  thought  of  God.  There  is  no  con- 
ceivable place  in  space  where  the  soul  that 
hates  God  could  flee  to  and  find  less  manifesta- 
tion of  him  than  into  this  outer  darkness.  The 
stores  of  memory  are  all  that  it  may  there  have. 
Is  this  the  grave  of  those  who  suffer  the  sec- 
ond death?  L)o  the  wicked  eventually  by  inac- 
tion in  this  outer  void  dwindle  into  eternal  an- 
nihilation and  thus  satisfy  the  last  condition  of 
the  plan  of  creation,  i.  e.,  "the  least  suffering  to 
the  fewest  individuals?"  Or  do  the  predomi- 
nating activities  of  the  soul,  as  they  existed  in 
this  life,  continue  forever  fed  by  the  uncon- 
sumed  and  (inconsumable  fuel  of  memory?  The 
condition  of  each  soul  would  thus  be  neither 
more  nor  less,  but  exactly  what  resulted  from 
the  former  life. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

CONCLUSION. 

In  the  foregoing  pages  we  have  endeavored 
to  present  the  general  outline  of  the  PLAN  OF 
CREATION.  First,  by  process  of  a  priori  reason- 
ing. Second,  by  presenting  a  general  view  of 
the  known  facts,  which  substantiate  the  theory 
developed  by  the  process  of  reasoning. 

We  do  not  claim  to  have  exhausted  either 
branch  of  the  subject.  In  its  nature  it  is  in- 
exhaustible. The  object  of  the  plan  of  crea- 
tion is  to  furnish  enjoyment  for  duration  with- 
out end,  to  an  innumerable  company  of  beings, 
whose  capacity  for  acquiring  and  enjoying  shall 
forever  increase,  and  shall  never  reach  any  limit 
beyond  which  it  can  not  pass.  In  its  very  nat- 
ure, therefore,  the  subject  is  unlimited  in  extent 
and  duration. 

The  object  of  the  present  work  has  been  to 
present  only  the  most  general  outline  of,  and 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION.  273 

principles  and  facts  in,  the  subject.  If  we  are 
mistaken  in  the  theory  presented  then  we  have 
written  enough.  If  the  general  theory  is  cor- 
rect, as  herein  presented,  then  we  leave  it  for 
others  to  enter  more  fully  into  the  details  of  the 
subject. 

The  evidence  of  the  plan  of  creation,  as  set 
out,  is  certainly  of  too  great  weight  to  be  neg- 
lected by  any  one.  If  there  is  an  intelligent 
Being,  who  has  created  all  things  according  to 
some  plan,  and  if  all  created  things  are  moving 
on  according  to  fixed  laws  to  the  great  final  ob- 
jects of  the  plan,  then  it  behooves  every  one,  as 
a  matter  of  ordinary  discretion,  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  those  laws  and  that  final  destiny. 

The  intellectual  development  and  accumu- 
lated knowledge  of  the  race  are  utterly  at  vari- 
ance with  the  hypothesis  that  man  is  an  acci- 
dental existence,  or  a  mechanical  result  of  force 
and  matter,  that  will  sooner  or  later  pass  into 
annihilation. 

If  man  had  not  been  created  and  circum- 
stanced as  he  is  then  the  place  in  the  plan  of 
creation  now  occupied  by  man  would  be  vacant, 
and  the  plan  would  not  be  perfect. 


274  THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION. 

If  we  could  balance  the  aggregate  enjoyment 
to  all  created  beings,  caused  by  the  creation  of 
man,  against  the  aggregate  suffering  that  hap- 
pens to  the  race,  we  would  undoubtedly  per- 
ceive that  the  existence  of  man  contributes  to 
the  greatest  enjoyment,  for  the  greatest  length 
of  time,  to  the  greatest  number,  with  the  least 
suffering  to  the  fewest  individuals. 

A  careful  examination  of  history  will  show 
that  the  Creator  was  aware  of  the  weakness  and 
ignorance  of  the  race,  that  He  expected  and  re- 
quired very  little  of  it,  and  that  He  exhausted 
creative  intelligence  in  assisting  the  race  to  live 
aright.  The  history,  as  recorded  in  the  Bible, 
shows  communication  after  communication,  re- 
ward after  reward,  punishment  after  punish- 
ment, promise  after  promise,  and  forgiveness 
after  forgiveness  to  man.  Even  the  Creator  at 
last  exclaimed,  "What  could  have  been  done 
more  to  my  vineyard  that  I  have  not  done  in 
it?"— Isa.,  5:  4. 

The  Creator  has  performed  on  his  part  all 
that  was  necessary.  Any  human  being  desiring 
to  do  right,  and  to  live  right,  had  placed  before 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION.  275 

him  all  the  information  necessary.  Those  who 
refused  to  live  according  to  the  revealed  law  did 
so  not  for  want  of  proper  knowledge,  but  be- 
cause they  so  willed  and  so  preferred.  Further 
information  and  knowledge  would  be  of  no  ben- 
efit to  them.  If  one  were  to  rise  from  the  dead 
and  tell  them  the  secrets  of  the  spirit  world  it 
would  do  no  good. 

And  he  said,  Nay,  father  Abraham  ;  but  if  one  went 
unto  them  from  the  dead,  they  will  repent.  And  he  said 
unto  him,  If  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets, 
neither  will  they  be  persuaded,  though  one  rose  from  the 
dead.— Luke,  1G:  30,  31. 

If  man  will  carefully  and  honestly  use  his  in- 
tellect in  investigating  the  evidence  that  exists 
in  support  of  the  revelations  to  man,  he  will 
find  sufficient  to  fully  justify  him  in  obeying 
the  law  to  the  best  of  his  ability.  Too  many 
limit  their  examination  to  the  evidence  arrayed 
by  sceptics  against  revelation,  and  rest  there. 
"Were  they  to  fully  consider  the  evidence  on  the 
other  side  they  would  be  convinced  thereby, 
except  those  who  would  not  believe  " though 
one  rose  from  the  dead." 

We,  therefore,  submit  to  the  impartial  judg- 


276  THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION. 

merit  of  the  reader  that  the  facts  and  laws  of 
nature  and  the  history  of  the  race  establish  the 
leading  propositions  of  this  work. 

First. — That  matter  was  created  from  nothing, 
that  the  laws  governing  it  and  the  phenomena 
of  life,  were  established  in  some  deQnite  period 
in  the  past. 

Second. — That  there  is  a  Being,  omnipotent, 
eternal,  infinite,  unchanging,  and  of  free  will, 
who  created  matter  And  established  the  laws 
above  referred  to. 

Third. — That  He  is  a  being  of  perfect  benev- 
olence. 

Fourth. — That  He  established  a  plan  of  crea- 
tion according  to  which  all  things  have  been 
created,  and  according  to  which,  in  pursuance 
of  law,  everything  created  is  moving  on  to  its 
final  destiny,  and  is  accomplishing  its  proper 
object  in  the  plan. 

Fifth. — That  the  object  of  .the  plan  of  crea- 
tion was  to  confer  the  greatest  enjoyment,  for 
the  greatest  length  of  time,  on  the  greatest 
number,  with  the  least  suffering  to  the  fewest 
individuals. 


THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION.  277 

Sixth. — That  in  pursuance  of  this  plan  there 
were  created  different  orders  of  beings  regular- 
ly graduated  in  the  descending  scale,  from  the 
order  capable  of  the  greatest  enjoyment  for 
eternity,  down  to  the  order  capable  of  but  a 
single  agreeable  sensation  for  a  short  space  of 
time. 

Seventh. — That  the  individuals  in  each  order 
of  the  immortal  beings  vary,  one  from  another, 
in  mental  characteristics,  so  that  no  duplicates 
occur,  and  are  created  with  faculties  for  enjoy-' 
uient,  so  that  the  capacity  shall  forever  increase. 

Eighth. — That  matter  was  created  throughout 
space,  subject  to  such  laws  that  there  will  be 
evolved  the  greatest  variety  of  phenomena  as 
sources  of  enjoyment.  That  after  the  present 
order  ends  new  creations  will  appear,  and  thus 
continue  in  succession  through  eternity. 

Ninth. — -God  is  the  cause  and  source  of  all 
enjoyment.  That  which  has  been  created  is 
but  the  expression  or  manifestation  of  God's 
thoughts  on  that  subject,  and  constitutes  the 
word  of  God  to  created  intelligences. 

Tenth. — That  cause  and  effect   have  been  es- 

13 


278  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

tablished  by  a-  fixed  law,  so  that  the  same  cause 
of  enjoyment  shall  always  produce  the  same  ef- 
fect. Present  and  future  enjoyment  and  suffer- 
ing are  the  effects  of  fixed  causes,  and  are  the 
result  of  natural  laws  not  yet  fully  understood. 

Eleventh. — If  the  created  beings  act  or  live 
according  to  this  law  they  will  constantly  at- 
tain enjoyment.  If  they  neglect  it,  or  live  con- 
trary to  it,  want  of  enjoyment  or  suffering  will 
result  as  a  fixed  effect.  Obeying  this  law  is 
righteousness,  transgressing  it  is  sin.  Where 
man  transgresses  this  law,  it  is  provided  that 
by  repentance  he  may  escape  the  penalty,  and 
be  restored  to  his  former  opportunity  under  the 
law. 

Twelfth. — Man  having  been  created  the  low- 
est in  the  scale  of  immortal  beings,  and  wholly 
ignorant  of  all  law,  has  been  under  the  special 
guidance  of  the  Creator.  He  has  been  instruct- 
ed, and  the  law  has  been  revealed  to  him,  until 
he  is  now  possessed  of  sufficient  knowledge  of 
the  law  so  that  he  can  live  according  to  it  and 
attain  enjoyment. 

Thirteenth. —  The  Bible  contains  a  revelation 


THE   PLAN    OF   CREATION.  279 

of  a  two-fold  character :  first,  of  the  law  of  en- 
joyment, or  the  law  according  to  which  man 
must  live,  called  also  the  moral  law  ;  second,  of 
facts  which  are  important  for  man  to  know,  and 
collateral  to  the  main  subject  of  revelation. 

Fourteenth. —  That  the  facts  of  a  scientific 
character  thus  revealed  were  not  substantiated 
by  any  evidence  in  the  revelation.  This  evi- 
dence was  left  for  the  intellect  to  discover,  thus 
giving  it  the  enjojanent  of  the  effort  and  of  the 
discovery. 

Fifteenth — Each  part  of  this  plan  of  creation 
is  presumptive  proof  of  the  whole,  and  the 
whole  is  presumptive  proof  of  each  part  by  rea- 
son of  the  relative  fitness  and  adaptability  of 
each  to  the  other,  forming  a  perfect  whole  with 
perfect  parts. 

It  has  been  the  tendency  of  man  in  his  igno- 
rance to  bury  the  grand  and  simple  law  of  Grod 
beneath  a  mass  of  traditions,  creeds,  dogmas, 
and  rituals,  so  complicated  that  many  have 
turned  away  from  the  truth.  Early  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  race  the  Creator  swept  these  aside 
and  announced  the  duty  of  man  as  He  required  it. 


280  THE    PLAN    OF    CREATION. 

And  now,  Israel,  what  doth  the  Lord  thy  God  require 
of  thee,  but  to  fear  the  Lord  thy  God,  to  walk  in  all  his 
ways,  and  to  love  him  and  to  servo  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thy  heart  ani  wito.  all  thy  soul.  To  keep  tlio 
commandments  of  tho  Lor. I,  and  his  statutes,  which  I 
command  thee  this  day  for  thy  good.  —  Duul.,  10:  12,  13. 

Jesus  said  unto  him,  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy 
God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with 
all  thy  mind.  *  *  *  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself.  On  these  two  commandments  hang  all  tha 
lav/  and  the  prophets.— Malt.,  22:  37-40. 

For  verily  I  say  unto  you,  Till  heaven  and  earth  pass, 
one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass  from  the  law 
till  all  be  fulfilled. -Matt.,  5:  IS. 

Before  each  one  lie  two  ways  j  one  leads  to 
enjoyment,  the  other  to  suffering.  Man's  free 
will  enables  him  to  choose  either  one. 

But  go  thou  thy  way  till  the  end  be :  for  thou  shalt 
rest,  and  stand  in  thy  lot  at  the  end  of  the  days.— 
Dan.,  12:  13. 

END. 


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